contention grew hot and would have come to a height had not both sides concluded to rest satisfied with the arbitration of Apollo who determined it should be given to the Wisest of all Men so they sent it to Thales Milesius then looked on as the Wisest Man in all Greece but he refusing the same caused it to be sent to Bias Prienaeus and he returned it to a third the third unto a fourth and so from one to another till at last it came to Solon And he judging Apollo to be the wisest caused it to be presented for an Altar in the house of his Oracle Now so it is that as these Men did in modesty with the Golden Trivet so all Men out of fear deal with Death When it knocks at the poor Mans door he sends it to the Rich mans gate The Rich man payes dear to translate it to the Scholler He with his learning perswades it to the City the Citizen will carry it himself to the Court the Courtier hath no desire to bid it welcome and therefore he poasteth it over to his Page he like a wild Buck runs away and leaves it to take hold of his Lord the Lord had rather it should carry away his Lady and the Lady would more willingly prefer her Maid and so of all the rest all refuse it none will accept of it every one puts it off to another The sad condition of the fearlesse Heart-hardned Sinner IT is said of Nero that bloudy Tyrant when Seneca his Tutor disswaded him from his Villanies and exhorted him so to demean himself Ut facta Superi comprobent sua that the Gods might approve of his works answered like a dogged Atheist and a wicked wretch Stulte verebor ego Does cum talia faciam O fool Dost thou think that I believe there be Gods when I do such things And this is the case of every Fearlesse Heart-hardned Sinner who is so accustomed to his wicked wayes and so delighted with his own works that he will believe nothing know nothing fear nothing being herein worse then the very Devills themselves for they believe and tremble they believe there is a God and tremble to think that there is one but the brawny-hearted seared obdurate Sinner if he believe doth not tremble or if he do believe yet doth not fear to commit the greatest wickednesse were it otherwise he would fear more and Sin lesse Charity to be well and rightly ordered AMongst other things in the learning of the Egyptians there is to be seen the picture and figure of Charity Hieroglyphycally set out like a Child that is naked with a Heart in his hand giving Honey to a Bee that wanteth wings 1. A Child humble and meek as Moses not churlish and dogged like Naball 2. Naked because the charitable Man must not give his Alms for ostentation to be seen of Men. 3. With a Heart in his hand because the Heart and the hand of a charitable Man must go together he must be a chearfull giver 4. Giving honey unto a Bee not to a Drone relieving poor Men that will labour not lazy beggars that will take no pains And lastly to a Bee without wings to such as would gather honey if they were able would work if they could but the want of wings lack of strength health and other the like abilities make them unable to help themselves thus to do is not Charity mis-taken mis-applyed ill-bestowed but seasonable suitable and well regulated How it is that Truth doth not alwayes apear TIme was when Truth lived in great Honour but through the envy of her Enemies she was disgraced and at last banished out of the City where sitting upon a dunghill sad and discontented she espied a Chariot attended with a great â—roop coming towards her she presently perceived who it was her greatest Enemy the Lady Lye clad in changeable colour'd Taffaty her Coach covered with clouds of all the colours in the Rainbow Impudency and Hypocrisy were on the one side Slander and Detraction on the other as attendants Perjury Usher'd all along and many more then a good many were in the train When she came to Truth she commanded her to be carryed as a Captive for the greater triumph At night she fared well and would want nothing but when Morning came she would be gone and pay for nothing affirming she had paid the reckoning over-night the Attendants upon examination of the matter justified their Lady onely Truth confessed there was nothing paid and was therefore compel'd to pay for all The next night the Lady did the like but withall committed a great out-rage and being for the same brought before the Judg Impudency and Hypocrisy began to justify their Lady Perjury cleared her Slander and detraction laid all the fault on poor Truth who must now suffer death for that it never did The Judg demands what she had to say for her self she could say nothing but Not guilty neither had she any friend that would plead for her At last steps up Time a grave experienced Counsellour and an Eloquent Advocate and desires favour of the Court to sift and search out the matter a little better lest the Innocent might suffer for the nocent The motion was granted then Time began to expell the clouds from the Ladies Chariot unmask'd her ugly face unvail'd all her followers and made it appear at last that the Lady Lye was guilty of all the Villany and poor Truth was thus by the help of Time cleared and set at large And thus it is that though Truth is great and will prevail at last yet it doth not alwaâ—es appear but may fall down in the street and be trampled under-foot for a time may be abused banished and made to come behind lyes and falshood yea executed buried when it cannot have time to clear it self untill it be too late to save it hence is it that the Apostle doth not say Now remaineth Truth because Truth is often banished but now remaineth Charity Faith Hope and Charity graces which give a being to every Christian of which sort Truth mainifested is none for I can believe in Christ hope for Heaven and love my Enemies though I be belyed but without these I can be no Christian. Body and Soul sinning together lyable to be punished together THere was a Master of a Family which committed the custody of his Orchard unto two of his servants whereof the one was blind and the other lame and the lame servant being taken in love with the beauty of the fruit presently told his blind fellow that if he had but the use of his limbs and his feet to walk as well as he had it should not be long ere he would be Master of those apples The blind Man answered He had as good a mind to enjoy them as himself and if his eyes had not failed him they had not rested all
God that is those that did love God fell in love with the daughters of men that is their own lusts What issue had they Giants 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as fought against God The Samaritans worshipped both the God of Israel and the Assyrians Idolls and they were the most deadly enemies of Ierusalem Never have you seen an Heretick that is a person that professeth partly the truth and partly errour but he turned a bloody persecutor of the Truth And he that loveth God and the World out of his love to the world will do the greatest dishonour he can unto God Two loves if one be good and the other bad cannot stand together No man can serve two Masters as Christ tells us if he love the one he will hate the other The direfull effects of War PLiny in his Naturall history writeth that the nature of the Basilisk is to kill all trees and shrubs it breathes upon and to scorch and burn all herbs and grasse it passeth over Such are the dismall effects of war For be the title never so clear the cause never so just yet the means are not without fire and sword nor the end without horrour and bloodshed Nulla salus bello Peace therefore is to be preferred so it be not with blemish of the Prince's honour or prejudice of the publick good God accepts the will for the deed A Pilot as Quintilian observes cannot be denyed his lawfull plea dum clavum rectum tenet Though the Ship be cast away he is not to make satisfaction so long as he held the stern right and guided it by the compasse In like manner though our actions and good intentions miscarry in the event we are not to be blamed if we steered our course according to the Word of God though the Bark be cast away as Paul's was yet the lives of all in it shall be safe It is very true that the Ship even at the Port may be driven back again may meet with many brushes and Knocks when it was thought to be most safe the dearest child of God may be at the gates of death so distracted that not one word of sense or reason may appear yet all no doubt is very well it is the feaver that rageth the disease that speaketh idly not the party and therefore ut ante delirium ita ad judicium said a learned man God measureth our actions not by the obliquity of them but by the rectitude of the heart and will not lay them to our charge Not the assurance onely but the joy of Salvation gives content IT is often day when the Sun doth not shine and though thick clouds breathed from the aire make a sad face of the sky as if it were night yet we cannot say the Sun is gon down This is many men's condition in the state of salvation the Sun is with them they are children of the day yet have they no joy of their salvation their Sun doth not shine they have no clear day Hence it is that assurance of salvation will â—ot content the soul except it may have the joy of salvation also This was that which made David cry out Restore me to the joy of thy salvation To take heed whom we trust BUcholcerus gives a parcell of witty counsell to his friend Huebnerus who being to go to Court to teach the Elector's children at their parting I will give you one proâ—itable rule saies he that shall serve for all your whole life He listning what if should be I commened saies he unto you the faith of the devills At which Hâ—â—bâ—erus wondring Take heed saies he how you trust any at the Court believe their Promises buâ— warily with fear c. The like must we do not believe all that is spokea not confide in all that make a shew of friendship there 's abundance of outside love in the world many complementall promises but little or no performance at all The poysonous nature of Ambition AS poyson is of such force that it corrupeth both blood and spirits besieging seizing and infecting the heart with the venemous contagion thereof quite altering the complexion and condition of the man that hath drunk it So the Pestiâ—erous desire of Soveraignty though it seize on a minde of milde and mansuete disposition yet it is of such forceable operation as it not onely altereth man's nature but maketh man unnaturall How to recover spirituall sight THe Angel bad Tobias to unbowell the fish and to take out the gall as being usefull in medicine and a speciall means to recover his eye-sight The story is Apocryphal but the application is Canonicall and agreeable to the doctrine of the inspired Scriptures If we unbowell worldly pleasures and carnall delights and take out the gall of them that is seriously think upon the bitterness of them the bitterness which they leave behinde them it will prove a soveraigne remedy against our spirituali blindâ—ess The Minister's repetition in Sermons warrantable AS Moses added a Deuteronomy to the former books of the Law though he repeated but the same things And the Evangelists added Gospell upon Gospell of the 〈◊〉 argument And the Apostles added Epistles to Epistles not much varying â—heir doctrine So it must not grieve the Minister to write and speak the same things to the people and for them it is a sure thing as the Apostle teacheth Windy Knowledge and windy doctrine to together AS extream windy stomacks do not only hinder digestion by interposition with the wholsome meat relaxation of the mouth of the stomack which ought to shut it self so close about the meat that not so much as the least vacuity may be left but also either by ill digestion fills the body with crudities obstructions and consequently putrefactions or else because wind is so stirring make ejaculation and a suddain regurgitation of all that is received So in like manner windy knowledge above wholsome sabriety makes such an interposition and relaxation of the mind that it cannot disgest wholsome doctrine but fills it self with all manner of raw humours and unstable opinions which breed such obstructions in the mind that presently It falls into divers sicknesses and can keep nothing that is good and savoury but presently being received by the pride and self-conceit that it hath in it self casts it up again and so by a continuall casting breeds that weaknesse that so much Iâ—aven of evill doctrine is soaked into the very filmes of the Soul that it breeds that disease which Physicians call Corruptio ad acciditatem which sets an eager and sharp appetite in the minde that it hungers continually to be sed with new opinions and so at length rottennesse and putrefaction is bred therein and consequently death and destruction God is to have the glory of all things AS bright shining and golden vessells
the stomach of his soul by confession and never leaveth fasting and praying and sighing and sobbing till the hook be out and the wound of conscience healed with the balm of Gilead but that being done resorbet interiora omnia he returneth to his former vomit and greedily gourmandizeth the bait which before he had vomited up being void of true grace he resolves to be a sinner still Gods blessing upon the means doth all A Man is in a deep consumption he adviseth with the Physitian the Physitian bids him take so much water and heat it then take such and such hearbs and put in it and make a decoction thereof The Patient taketh water and drinketh it but he leaveth out the hearbs and dyeth of the Consumption Thus the blessing of God in the use of means whether it be in Physick or in meat and drink or in any transactions of men whatsoever is like the hearbs to be put into the water if it be left out all 's in vain this is that staffe of bread All the power to nourish and feed cometh immediately from God alone Condescension is the great Mans glory OUr English Chronicle hath a notable passage between the King of England and the King of Wales who after a hot dispute by the sword appointed a Treaty of peace at the River of Severn after some discourse inclining to a Reconciliation the Competitors for Soveraignty became Corrivals in humility The English King forced his horse into the River to offer his first embraces unto his Brother of Wales The Welch blood being overcome with this admired condescension he lighted from his horse and swam the stream to meet his Corrival with these words Vicit humanitas tua in justitiam meam Rex invictissime thy goodness hath overcome me Surely it is the glory of man to pass by offences In great men it is the greatest glory and it will one day be found the choicest Diamond in the Diadem of greatness to manage power by a self-denying spirit of meekness and humility and that if he must needs shoot at his brother as who can alwayes shun the occasion to shoot as Ionathan did at David either short or gone that wheresoever he hits he may not hurt because he may not seem to cut off the hope of Reconcilement or build his safety on the neck of his Brother ruine A true Christian is to be a true picture of Christ. IF a man profess himself to be a Painter and take upon him to make the picture of a King and mishapen him doth he not deserve just blame yes surely for he occasioneth strangers to think meanly of the King's person because of his ill-favoured pourtraiture Thus Christianity is nothing else but an imitation of the divine nature a reducing of a mans self to the Image of God in which he was created to righteousness and true holiness Then shall a Christian escape punishment whose life is to be a visible Representation of Christ if Infidels and Enemies of all goodness blaspheme him while they judge of him according to his counterfeit He shall not wherefore faciamus de terra coelum saith St. Chrysostom Let us represent Heaven in Earth so live that men may say God is in us of a truth and our light so shine before men here on earth that they may glorifie God which is in Heaven The Temporizer described THe cunning Artizan in Macrobius about the time of the civil War between Anthony and Augustus Ceasar had two Crows and with great labour and industry he taught one of them to say Salve Antoni Imperator God save Emperor Anthony and the other Salve Auguste Imperator All hayl my Liege Augustus so that however the world went he had alwaies one bird for the Conqueror So the Romanists if the reformed Religion prevail their bird's note is Ave Christe spes unica but if Popery be like to get the uppeer hand they have a bird then that can sing Ave Maria Regina coeli And there is a double-faced Ianus-like generation that as occasion serves can sing Vive le Roy and at another time that which is clean contrary their opinions and their tenents like the antient Tragedian buskin indifferently fitting either foot passable as well at Rome as Geneva As the Hel otropium turneth alwayes to the Sun so their opinions and practice in matters of Religion to the prevailing faction in State Afflictions to be looked on as coming from God onely A Man when he would drink of the water of the River he drinketh not of it neer the Sea where it is brackish but he goes up to the Fountain where it is sweet and pleasant So if we will ever find comfort in our afflictions we must learn to take them out of Gods hand to pass by the Instrument and look up to the Agent for in the second causes we shall find much malice and hatred but in God much mercy and goodness and thus did Iob when the Chaldeans robbed him thus David when Shimei cursed him thus Ioseph when his Brethren maligned him and thus that Kingly picture of patience when he was even worried to death by his own enraged People Ceremonials and Circumstantials of Religion not to be much contended for TVlly in the first book of his Offices hath a story how the Nolans and the Neopolitans had a controversie about a piece of ground which lay between their several Countries and Fabius Leo being invited to determine the difference gave unto them the exterior limits of the ground adjoyning to their respective Countries and reserved for the State of Rome all the land which lay in the midst betwixt the two confines And let us be well advised that whilst with the dog in the Fable we sâ—ap at the shadow we lose not the substance whilst we do most unhappily contend about the confines the very outsides of our liberties and priviledges about ceremonies and circumstances of Religion our good friends of Rome do not come in and give us as much sensual liberty as we can desire but take away from us also the saving truths of the Gospel and that purity of Ordinances and Administrations which lye betwixt us in medio on both sides so much contended for Why God delivered the Law with such Majestick ceremonies MOrtal Princes come not to great assemblies as to Parliament to the throne of Iudgement to the ratifying of Leagues but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a great deal of Pomp Acts 25. 3. If ever then it is that they shew their Royalty they make it appear that they are neither beggarly nor contemptible nor unable to revenge themselves they make shew of their glory and their power for the vulgar that have no judgement of true morality are held in from disrespects to their Governors by these Ceremonies and the attention of their ears is kept in waking by such amazing of their eyes
in our hearts the true picture of our death a sense of our mortality a consideration of Eternity and in all our doings to remember our latter end and then we shall never do amiss Eccles. 7. 36. The ruine of the Churches enemies to be desired THe Landgrave of Hesse a mild and gratious Prince but whose clemency was much abused being cast by adventure on a Smiths forge over-heard what the Smith said all the while he was striking his Iron Duresce inquam duresce utinam Landgravius durescat And truly the presumption of some amongst us is such in corrupting the truth with their books and opposing it with their heresies that all true-hearted Protestants are generally of the Smiths mind to wish those sons of Belial that flie-blow Religion and blast the Laws of the Kingdom with their stinking breath placing their greatest piety in the greatest mischiefs they can bring to Church and Common-wealth may feel the mettal harder that by a just law is tempered for such kind of spirits as they are of The necessity of Catechising BEda maketh mention of one returning out of England to Aidanus a Religious Bishop in Scotland complaining that the people little profited by his preaching to whom Aidanus answered that it was perhaps because he did not after the manner of the Apostles give them milk first i. e. principle them well in the foundation of Christian Religion And it is most true that super structures must needs down where the ground-sills are not well laid that the onely way to encrease knowledge is by knowledge of the Principles of Religion being thus grounded there will be an ability to judge of truth and false doctrine so that men will not so easily be carryed about with every wind of doctrine as the prophane and ignorant multitude be such as are tiling the house when they should be laying fast the foundation such as think they move in a circle of all divine knowledge when God knows they know little or nothing at all Time well spent THere is a story of a certain holy Man who at first had led a dissolute life and chancing on a time into the company of a godly honest man was so wrought on by his holy perswasion such is the force of good Society that he utterly renounced his former course of life and gave himself to a more private austere moderate and secluse kind of living the cause whereof being demanded by one of his old consorts who would have drawn him such is the nature of evil company to his usuall riot and excess he made this answer I am busie meditating and reaâ—ing in a little look which haâ—h but three leaves in it so that I have no leisure so much as to think of any other business And being asked a long time after whetâ—er he had read over the book replied This small book hath but three leaves and they are of three several colours red white and black which contain so many mysteries that the more I meditate thereon the more sweetness I find so that I have devoted my self to read thereon all the days of my life In the first leaf which is red I meditate on the passion of my Lord and Saviour Christ Iesus and of his pretious blood shed for a ransom of my sins and the sins of all his Elect without which we had been bondslaves of Sathan and fewell for hell-fire In the white leafe I cheer up my spirits with the comfortable consideration of the unspeakable joys of the heavenly Kingdom purchased by the blood of Christ my Saviour In the third leafe which is black I think upon the horrible and perpetual torments of Hell provided and kept in store foâ— the wicked and ungodly Here 's a good man a good book and a good example well met together Would but the men of this world carry this book of three leaves in their hearts and meditate often thereon it would restrain their thoughts bridle their affections and center all their words and actions within the limits and boundaries of the fear of God but alas men like Nabal are so busied about white Earth red Earth and black Earth in gathering and scraping of transitory trash or have so prostituted their affections unto carnal pleasures and delights that they spend their time like Domitian in catching of flyes or like little children in running after butter-flyes so that they have little or no leisure to think either of God or any goodness and so on a sudden the Sun of their pleasure setteth the day of their life endeth the night of their death cometh and like a man walking in the snow not seeing his way they chop into their graves before they be aware A child of God is best known by his affections to God A Father lying on his death-bed called three children to him which he kept and told them that one onely of them was his natural son and that the rest were onely brought up by him therefore unto him onely he gave all his goods but which of those three was his own son he would not in any wise declare VVhen he was dead every one pleaded his birth-right and the matter brought to tryall the judge for the making if possible a true discovery took his course He caused the dead corps of the Father to be set up against a Tree and commanded the three sons to take bows and arrows to shoot against their Father to see who could come neerest to his heart The first and second did shoot and hit him but the third was angry with them both and through natural affection of a child to a Father threw away his bow and would not shoot at all This done the Judge gave sentence that the two first were no sons but the third onely and that he should have the goods The like tryall may be made of God's children Can the drunkard be God's child that gives him vineger and gall to drink No he is a child of the Devil Can the blasphemous swearer that rends God in peices and shâ—ots him through with his dart as it is said of the Egyptian when he blasphemed that he smote or pierced through God's name Levit. 24. 11. No he is a Devill incarnate whereas a child of God is discovered by his affections to his God he makes conscience of an Oath his tongue is the trumpet of God's glory he possesseth his vessel in holiness and if at any time he sin against God as who is it that doth not If he chance to shoot at God a bitter word and unclean thought a sinful act it is as Jonathan did at David either short or over seldom or never home In a word such is his care his zeal his love to his God that if he sin by infirmity he returns by Repentance immediately Iudges and Magistrates are to be the Patrons of Justice IT is reported of a Lord Maior of London that giving order to an
with God when they are in as much favour with him as any The Scripture not to be jested withal IF in the troublesome dayes of King Edward the fourth a Citizen in Cheapside was executed as a Traitor for saying he would make his son Heir to the Crown although he meant only his own house having a Crown for the sign How much more dangerous is it to jest with the two edged sword of Gods word to wit-wanton it with the Majesty of God Wherefore if without thine intention and against thy will by chance-medley thou hittest Scripture in ordinary discourse yet flie to the City of Refuge and pray to God to forgive thee The New Testament an exposition of the Old AS Numerius said that Plato was nothing else but Moses translated out of Hebrew into Greek And Ascham that Virgil is nothing but Homer turned out of Greek into Latine And as Divines have censured Cyprian to be nothing else but Tertullian in a more familiar and elegant style So the New Testament is nothing else but an exposition of the Old That difference which Zeno put betwixt Logick and Rhetorick Divines usually make between the Law and the Gospel The Law like the fist shut The Gospel like the hand open the Gospel a revealed Law the Law a hidden Gospel Interest in Christ best of all IT is the fashion of many men at Christ-mass especially to boast of their rich attire great attendance good fire large cheer yet seeing Christ is heir of all things in the world they cannot in their own right they cannot so much as enjoy a Christ-mass log or a Christ-mass pye till they be first ingrafted in him Here upon the Earth a man may have Evidences to shew that his Land is his own his house his horse all is his own and that he is a very thief that takes any of these from him But all the Men in the world cannot give the least claim title or interest to Heaven cannot endow him with these temporal things before the living God but his son Christ onely who is heir of all And therefore that our Land may be our own our meat our men our money our own let us be Christs that in him we may have the good assurance of them all so that in the end of all that may be pronounced to us which the Apostle did to the Corinthians All are yours ye Christ's and Christ God's God slow to anger and of great patience IT is observable that the Romane Magistrates when they gave sentence upon any one to be scourged a bundle of Rods tyed hard with many knots was laid before them The reason was this That whilst the Beadle or Flagellifer was untying the knots which he was to do by order and not in any other hasty or sudden way the Magistrate might see the deportment and carriage of the delinquent whether he were sorry for his fault and shewed any hope of amendment that then he might recall his sentence or mitigate the punishment otherwise to be corrected so much the more severely Thus God in the punishing of sinners how patient is he how loath to strike how slow to anger if there were but any hopes of recovery how many knots doth he untye how many rubs doth he make in his way to Justice he doth not try us by Marshal law but pleads the case with us Why will ye dye O ye house of Israel and all this to see whether the poor sinner will throw himself down at his feet whether he will come in and make his composition and be saved The fruits of Repentance are to be as well outward as inward THere is a work-house in the inward Closet of our hearts where we must fructifie and lay the Foundation of those things which we do in the outward man all our outward deeds should be but deeds of deeds yet we must not content our selves onely with the inward we must bring forth the outward also He that hath an inside for God and an outside for the devil may with his pardon be cast into bell for ever We must therefore shew some outward evidence of the efficacy of Grace Gregory Nâ—ssen sets it forth excellently Come on you saith he which glory in your Baptism How shall it appear that the mysticall grace hath altered you In your countenance there appeareth no change nor in your outward lineaments how then shall your friends perceive you are not the same I suppose no otherwise but by your outward manners and deportment they must shew that you are not what you were when you are tempted with the same sins whereunto you before were subject and yet forbear them It is reported of one of the worthiest of the Antients who before his conversion had kept company with a Strumpet when after his conversion she came towards him he fled she calleth after him Quo fugis Ego sum Whither flyest thou It is I. His answer was At ego non sum ego But I am not I. This should be the true frame of every Repentant spirit to shew by outward demonstration the lively fruits of inward conversion Government of the Tongue commendable IT is related of Thomas Aquinas that being a young man he was so careful over his words and watchful over his tongue that he was called by his fellow Scholars Bos mutus a dumb Ox But Albertus Magnus perceiving by his disputations the greatness of his wit and thereupon judging to what his silence tended gave this sentence of him Bos isle talem aliquando edet mugitum ut sonum ejus totus Orbis exaudiat This Ox will at length make such a lowing that all the world shall hear the sound of it which afterwards proved true in his writings Thus where the Tongue is kept at a bay and shut up within the compass of a careful government the soul is kept from many troubles and the mind freed from many distractions which do usually attend upon intemperate talkings Ministers to stand up for the Truth THeodoret in his Ecclesiastical story reporteth that when Valens the Emperor with his Arrian opinions had bepestered much of the world and by that means the flock of Christ stood in great danger Aphrates a Monk a holy man of that time contrary to his Order and holy profession came forth out of his Monastery to help to keep up the Truth And being asked by the Emperor who was offended at him what he did out of his Cell I would saith he have kept it and did keep it so long as Christ's sheep were in quiet but now that Tempests do come on and storms bring them in danger every stone is to be turned all means are to be sought for their safety He goeth on If I were daughter to any man whatsoever and according to my Sex as decency should require were kept up in a Closet or in some secret Chamber or in
things more commendable then his Victoryes for having vanquished the French King by force of battle he put off from himselfe the whole glory and gave it devoutly to God causing to be sung Non nobis Domine non nobis Domine Not unto us Lord not unto us Lord but unto thy name be the glory given c. Psalm 115. 1. And thus must every one do be his atchievements never so great whether private or publique let God have the glory of all for it is no less then blasphemy in Man to attribute either the strength or the glory of success unto himselfe St. Pauls omnia possum had been over presumptuous had he not added by him that strengthneth me Phil. 4. How it is that one Man censureth another THat divine Spaniard in his pleasant but useful fictions of the life of Gusman makes his Rogue wittily discourse of the unconscionableâ—â—ss of the Genowayes and their prying into and censuring of other mens lives That when they are young and go first to School they play away and lose their Consciences which their Master finding he layes them up carefully in a Christ but because he hath the keeping of so many and they mixed one with another he gives to his Schollers when they go away such Consciences as come first to hand which they take to be their own but are indeed somebodie 's else Whence it comes to pass that no man bearing his own Conscience in his own bosome every Man looks and pryes into that of another Mans The truth of this story may be questioned but the Morall is true without all question and we have need sometimes of such pleasant passages to tell us the truth that we may understand our selves the better There 's hardly the Man to be found that is not curious in other Mens faults blind in his own partial to himself never without matter against others still complayning of the badnesse of the times the decay of Trade the ripenesse of sin but will not be perswaded that he is any way the occasion of the same To be thankfull to God as well in Adversity as Prosperity THemistocles was wont to tell his ingratefull Country-men the Athenians that they used him like a shady Tree under which when a storm happened they would run and take shelter but when the storm was over they would be ready to cut it down and burn it When there were any Tumults or uproares in the Common-wealth who but Themistocles all the People would flock to Themistocles for succour but when there was a calm in the State and all things at peace through his good advice and industry then who more base Who more contemptible then poor Themistocles And is not this the case of many at this day they will pray unto God in time of Adversity but they will not praise God in time of Prosperity While the corn is growing the hedge is well fenced but when it is in'd the fields are thrown open when they stand in need of any blessings then they are all upon the spur somewhat carefull to please God but when they have caught what they fished for then they let the reyns slack are not so forward in the ways of obedience so that it is a great blessing of God that we are kept in want of one blessing or other were it otherwise he were likely to have but a little of our company The doctrine of Seducers dangerous VVE may read of a Woolfe taken in a snare which when a Man went about to kill with his hunting speare the Woolfe breathed in his face and poysoned him in such a manner that he presently began to swell all over his body and was very hardly recovered again Such is the contagion which the soul of the Hearer receives by the poysoned breath of Seducers doctrine if so be that coming near such kind of Vermine a Man do not wind them that is not draw up into his Soul the sweet breathings of the Spirit it is great odds but that he is totally infected thereby to the irreparable loss both of soul and body togeâ—her God seeketh his People more especially in his own House the Church VVHen we receive summons from any supream Authority the Messenger or Offiâ—â—â— of the Court seeks us not in idling places he pursues us not into the fields neither doth he come to our sports to warn us but to our houses and there reads his message as if we were there because we should be there and then without any further enquiry departs fastning the script or writ upon the door In like manner the Ministers of the Gospel are Gods Ambassador and Gods Messengers God supposeth every Man to be at home and so do they because at hours and times set apart for his worship they are presumed to have no houses but his house whom they shall meet no where nor more certainly find than there there it is that more especially when two or three are met together in his name he will be in the midst of them there he will teach them his wayes and there he will give them grace too to walk in his waies nor can a Sermon have any influence upon such as are not there so true is that of venerable Bede That he that comes not willingly to Church shall one day go unwillingly to Hell The sincere Preachers comfort IN a great Festivall when the expectation was not less then the concourse both very great St. Bernard having preached a very eloquent Sermon as that heavenly tongue was able beyond expectation while the People admire and applaud the Abbot walks sadly with a mind not ordinarily dejected The next day he preaches a lively Sermon full of profitable truth plain without any Rhetorical dress whereupon his meaner capacited Auditors went away very well contented but curious itching ears were unsatisfied but he walks cheerfully with a mind more then usually pleasant The people wonder why he should be sad when applauded and when not merry but he returns this answer Heri Bernardum hodiè Iesum Christum yesterday I preached Bernard but to day Iesus Christ It is the same with all Preachers of Gods word There can be no feast within when a Man is conscious to himself of dallying with God Integrity is that which furnisheth out the sweet banquet and heavenly repast of joy That Preacher shall have mâ—st comfort that preacheth most of Christ and so shall he too that lives most to Chrâ—st when a rotten-hearted Wolsey whose Conscience tells him he served the King his Master better then God his Maker shall languish away in discontent and vexation of spirit God afflicts his Children for their good IT is the observation of an excellent Preacher yet living who passing by on a dark night in the streets of London and meeting a youth who had a lighted Link in his hand who being offended thereat because it burnt so dark
are many People that find out more mysteries in their sleep than they can well expound waking The Abbot of Glassenbury when Ethelâ—â—ld was Monk there dreamt of a Tree whose branches were all covered with Moâ—ks cowles and on the highest branch one cowle that out-toâ—t all the rest which must be expounded the greatnesse of this Ethelwold If they dream of a green Garden then they shall hear of a dead corps if they dream that they shake a dead man by the hand then there 's no way but death All this is a kind of superstitious folly to repose any such confidence in Dreams but if any man desire to make a right use of dreams let it be this Let him consider himself in his dreaming to what inclination he is mostly carried and so by his thoughts in the night he shall learn to know himselfe in the day Be his dreams lustfull let him examâ—â—e himself whether the addictions of his heart run not after the byas of Concâ—piscence Is he turbulent in his Dreams let him consider his own contentious disposition be his dreams revengefull they point out his malice Run they upon gold and silver they argue his covetousnesse Thus may any Man know what he is by his sleep for lightly Men answer temptations actually waking as their thoughts do sleeping Consultation with flesh and bloud in the waies of Heaven is very dangerous LOok upon a Man somewhat thick-â—ighted when he is to passe over a narrow bridge how he puts on his spectacles to make it seem broader but so his eyes beguile his feet that he falls into the brook And thus it is that many are droâ—â—ed in the whirle-pool of sin by viewing the passage to Heaven onely with the spectacles of 〈◊〉 and blood they think the bridgeâ— broad which indeed is narrow the Gate to be wide which indeed is straight and so ruinâ— themselves for ever The sad condition of adding sin to sin Mr. Fox in his Martyrology hath a story of the Men of Cockâ—am in Lancashire by a threatning command from Bonner they were charged to set up a Rood in their Church accordingly they compounded with a Carver to make it being made and erected it seemed it was not so beautiful as they desired it but with the hard visage thereof scared their Children Hereupon they refused to pay the Carver The Carver complained to the Iustice the Iustice well examining and understanding the matter answers the Townsmen Go to pay the Workman pay him get you home and mark you Rood better if it be not well-favoured to make a God it is but clapping a pair of horns on 't and it will â—erve to make an excellent Devill Thus when any man adds one sin to another when they add superstitious dotage covetous oppression and racking extortion to their worldly desires whereby they gore poor Mens sides and let out their very heart-bloods they shall find no peace of God to comfort but Devil enough to confound them Preaching and Prayer to go together IT is observed by those that go down into the deep and occupy their business in great waters that when they see the Constellation of Castor and Pollux appeare both together then it is the happy omen of a successfull voyage but if either of them appear single actum est de expeditione there 's small hope of thriving Thus it is that when Preaching and Prayer do meet together and like Hippocrates's two twins live arm in arm together not all praying and little or no preaching as some would have it nor all preaching and little or no praying as others would have it then is offered up that Sacrifice which unto God is made acceptable For praying and no preaching would not so well edifie his Church because where Visions fail the People perish and preaching without prâ—yer would not well beseem his Church which is called an house of prayer but both together will do exceeding well the one to teach us how to pray the other to fit us how to hear Man losing himselfe in the pursuit after knowledge Extraordinary HOunds that are over-fleet often out-run the prey in the pursuit or else tyred and hungry fall upon some dead piece of carrion in the way and omit the game Thus Man who onely hath that essentiall consequence of his Reason Capacity of Learning though all his time he be brought up in a School of Knowledge yet too too often lets the glass of his dayes be run out before he know the Author he should study hence it is that the greatest Epicures of Knowledge as Children new set to School turn from their lessons to look upon Pictures in their Books gaze upon some hard trifle some unnecessary subtilty and forget so much as to spell God How great a part of this span-length of his dayes doth the Grammaticall Critick spend in finding out the Construction of some obsolete word or the principal verb in a worn-out Epitaph still ready to set out a new book upon an old Criticisme How doth the Antiquary search whole Libraries to light upon some auncient Monument whilst the Chronicles of the Lord who is the Ancient of dayes are seldom looked into all of them so wearying the faculties of their understandings before hand by over-practising that when they come at the race indeed where their knowledge should so run that it might attain it gives over the course as out of breath before it have begun Slanders of wicked men not to be regarded LIvia wrote to Augustus Caesar concerning some ill words that had passed of them both whereof she was over-sensible but Caesar comforted her Let it never trouble you that Men speak ill of us for we have enough that they cannot do ill to us And to say truth above Hell there is not a greater punishment then to become a Sannio a subject of scorn and derision Ill tongues will be walking neither need we repine at their violence we may well suffer their words while God doth deliver us out of their hands Let it never trouble us that Men speak evill of us for we have enough that they can do no evill to us And withall whilst that the Derider dasheth in a puddle the dirt flyes about his own ears but lights short of Innocence the Mocker that casts aspersions on his brother over night shall find them all on his own cloaths next morning How to be truly Humble EPaminondas that Heathen Captain finding himself lifted up in the day of his publique triumph the next day went drooping and hanging down the head but being aked What was the reason of that â—is so great dejection made answer Yesterday I felt my selfe transported with vain glory therefore I chastise my selfe for it to day thus did Hezekiah thus David thus Peter and many others And so must it be with every truly humbled Man If he have not the
in his life The telling of Truth begets batred AS the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said That they came thither to suffer for the Truth tells them That they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travell far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of Preaching Praedicare nihil est quà m derivare in se furorem c. That to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears Mr. Dering telling Queen Elizabeth in a Sermon that it was once Tanquam ovis but now it was Indomita juvenca was never suffered to preach more at Court Tell a Polititian Papinian's truth that That 's the best reason which makes most for Religion that the best policy that makes most for piety Why this truth crossing his projects and purposes the teller may take his bill and sit down quickly and write enmity Tell a covetous man St. Pauls truth that the love of mony is the root of all evill you offer him losse you touch his freehold y' are a trespasser to his trade an enemy Tell the luxurious man that Theorem of truth that Temperance is the razor of Superfluities and the rule of necessaries and that this whole lifâ— ought to be a kind of a Quadragesimal abstinence Away with your thred-bare Scholars posies what do you bring us into the Wildernesse to starve us You are an enemy Thus let the truth-teller never dream of comfits and sweet-meats but make account to eat his Passeover with sour herbs let him never feed himself with vain expectation that the trade of truth-telling is a plausible winning welcome profession An expectas ut Quintilianus ametur Let him rather account himself to be born as Ieremy a contentious man one that striveth with the whole earth a troublesom companion an enemy Men not repairing to the Church of God reproved THe renowned Captain Huniades when he felt himself in danger of death desired to receive the Sacrament before his departure and would in any case sick as he was be carried to the Church to receive the same saying That it was not fit that the Lord should come to the house of his Servant but the servant go rather to the house of his Lord and Master Davids desire was to dwell there and Nicodemus though a Ruler did not send for Christ but go unto him Whose modesty condemns many amongst us who will not vouchsafe to come to Christ if he will be served Christ must come to them the Supper of the Lord must be brought to their table the Ministers of Christ must Church their wives at home baptize their children at home vainly imagining that they do God a great favour when they tread in his Courts and a grace to his Ambassadours when they lend their ears to an hours audience Grace seemingly lost in the Soul THe two Disciples talked with Christ yet knew him not Mary with her blubber'd eyes mistakes Christ for the Gardiner Hagar in the very midst of her distresse had a fountain of water before her yet could not see it till God was pleased to open her eyes Gen. 21. 19. Thus the least cloud of Gods displeasure may as it were an Ecliptick liâ—e seem to darken the splendour of his graces within us Christ may so hide himself from our hearts that knowledge or faith shall not be able to reach him and much of the Spirit may be so darkned that though a man have Christ in the promise O strange detention yet he shall not be able to discern him Men not to run themselves into trouble THere is mention made in the Ecclesiasticall story of a silly woman that must needs spit in the Emperour's face that so she might suffer Martyrdom And it is said of the Lion that to provoke himself to anger when there is none to hurt him he beateth himself with his own tail But thus must no good Christian do we must take heed that we do not wilfully run our selves into troubles but rather use all lawfull means to prevent them before they come and to be freed from them when they are come For he shall have sorrow that loves it and he that runs into danger shall perish in it and he that voluntarily laies a crosse upon his own shoulders when he needs not hath no promise that God will take it off It is true that we must drink of this biâ—ter cup but we must stay till God put it into our hands otherwise we cannot say that we are chastised by him but that we scourge our selves with whips of our own making How to behold our selves in the Glasse of Gods Law ONe of the Persecutors in Queen Mary's daies pursuing a poor Protestant and searching the house for him charged an old woman to shew him the Heretick She points to a great chest of linnen on the top whereof lay a fair Looking-glasse He opens the chest and asks where the heretick was She suddainly replyed Do you not see one meaning that he was the Heretick and that he might easily see himself in the glasse And thus God's Law is the glasse that shews us all our spots let us hold it right to our intellectuall eye not behind us as the wicked do they cast Gods word behind them not besides us like the rich worldling that called to Christ not to turn the back-side of the glasse towards us which is the very trick of all hypocrites nor lastly to look upon our selves in this glasse when we are muffled masked or cased for under those vails we cannot discern our own complexions But let us set the clear glasse before our face and our open face to the glasse and then we shal soon perceive that the sight of our filthinesse is the first step towards cleannesse Men of all sorts to stand up for the Truth IT was the great praise of learned Fulgentius upon young Donatus that being set upon by the Arrians though he had not the skill to defend the truth with his tongue yet he had a will to maintain the truth in his heart though he could not unloose all their cunning tricks he could yet hold fast the conclusion Truth And he that for he could neither write nor read could not clerkly subscribe his name to Truth 's confession could yet manly draw blood of himself wherewith to set his mark to it And he that for want of learning could not dispute Christ's cause could yet be content to die for it And were every hair of my head a man I would burn them all said a third rather then go from Truth Thus it is to be wished that as this was the first Nation that
that at the noyse of Thunder they are oft-times even terrified unto death insomuch that they which keep them use to beat a drum amongst them that they being accustomed to the softer noyse of the drum may not be daunted with louder claps of Thunder Thus it is with incorrigible sinners of all sorts they are so affected with the whisperings of wordly pleasures so taken up with the jingling noyse of Riches so delighted with the empty sound of popular applause and secular preferments so sottish and besotted are they that they are not sensible of Gods anger against them the very custome of sinne hath taken away the sense of sin that they do not so much as hear that which all the world besides heareth with trembling and amazement the dreadful voyce of Gods wrathful and everlasting displeasure Regeneration the onely work of Gods spirit IT is said of the Bear that of all Creatures she bringeth the most ugly mishapen whelps but by licking of them she brings them to a better form yet it is a Bear still Thus all of us are ugly and deformed in our inward man 'T is true good breeding learning living in good Neighbourhood may lick us fair and put us into a better shape but shall never change our nature without the operation of the blessed Spirit A Man may be able to discourse of the great mysteries of Salvation yet not be changed may repeat Sermons yet not renewed pertake of the Ordinances yet not regenerated not any of these nor any of all these put together will stand in stead till it hath pleased God to square them and fit them and sanctifie them unto us by the blessed assistance of his holy Spirit Scripture-comforts the onely true comforts IT is storyed of an ancient and Reverend Rabbi who that he might by some demonstration win the People to look after Scripture-knowledge put himselfe into the habit of a Mountebank or travelling Aqua-vitae man and in the Market-place made Proclamation of a soveraign Cordial or Water of life that he had to sell Divers call him in and desire him to shew it whereupon â—he opens the Bible and directs them to several places of comfort in it And to say truth there is the greatest comfort to be had being the word of the everliving God The waters of life which are to be thirsted after whereby we may learn to live holy and dye happy The deaths of friends and others not be sleighted THe Frogs in the Fable desire a King Iupiter casteth a stock amongst them which at the first fall made such a plunge in the water that with the dashing thereof they were all affrighted and ran into their holes but seeing no further harme to ensue they came forth took courage leapt on it and made themselves sport with that which was first their fear till at length Iupiter sent a Stork among them and he devoured them all Thus it is that we make the death of others but as a Stock that somewhat at firstâ— affecteth us but we soon â—orget it until the Stâ—rk come and we our selves become a miserable prey Do they who close the eyes and cover the faces of their deceased friends consider that their eyes must be so closed their faces thus covered Or they who shrowd the Coarse remember that they themselves must be so shrowded Or they who ring the knell consider that shortly the bells must go to the same tune for them Or they that make the grave even while they are in it remember that shortly they must inhabite such a narrow house as they are now a building Peradventure they do a little but it takes no deep impression in them Prayers to be made unto God in Christs name JOseph gives strict command unto his brethren that if ever they looked for him to do them any good or to see his face with comfort they should be sure to bring the lad Benjamin their brother along with them Thus if ever we expect any comfortable return of our Prayers we must be sure to bring our elder Brother Christ Iesus in our hearts by faith and to put up all our requests in his Name They of old called upon God using the names of Abraham Isaac and Iacob three of Gods friends Afterwards they entreated God for his servant Davids sake Others drew up Arguments to move God drawn from the Creation of the World and from his loving kindnesse These were very good wayes then and very good to engage the great God of Heaven to us But unto us is shewed a more excellent way by how much the appellation of an onely begotten Son exceeds that of friend and servant and the benefit of Redemption excells that of creation and favour Dulce nomen Christi O the sweet name Iesus Christ no man ever asked any thing of God truly in that Name but he had his asking To be mindfull of Death at all times THere was once a discourse betwixt a Citizen and a Marriner My Ancestors sayes the Marriner were all Seamen and all of them dyed at Sea my Father my Grand-father and my Great-grand-father were all buried in the Sea Then sayes the Citizen what great cause have you then when you set out to Sea to remember your death and to commit your soul to the hands of God yea but sayes the Marriner to the Citizen Where I pray did your Father and your Grand-father dye Why sayes he they dyed all of them in their beds Truly then sayes the Marriner What a care had you need to have every night when you go to bed to think of your bed as the grave and the clothes that cover you as the Earth that must one day be thrown upon you for the very Heathens themselves that implored as many Deities as they conceived Chimaera's in their fancies yet were never known to erect an Altar to Death because that was ever held uncertain and implacable Thus whether it be at Sea or Land that Man is alwaies in a good posture of defence that is mindfull of death that so lives in this World as though he must shortly leave it that concludes within himselfe I must dye this day may be my last day this place the last that I shall come in this Sermon the last Sermon that I shall hear this Sabbath the last Sabbath that I shall enjoy the next Arrow that is shot may hit me and the time will come how soon God knows that I must lay aside this cloathing of Mortality and lie down in the dust Scripture-knowledge to be put in practice MUsicall Instruments without handling will warp and become nothing worth a sprightly horse will lose his Mettall by standing unbreathed in a Stable Rust will take the sword that hangs by the walls The Cynick rather then want work would be still removing his Tub Thus it is not Gods meaning that any Grace should lie
on them then they become Christs Bread and Gods Wine and the Table Gods Table too not the bread of the buttery but of the Sanctuary not the wine of the grape but of the Vine Christ Iesus sealing unto us the pardon and remission of our sins So that in the right receiving thereof we must make it a work not dentis but mentis not so much to look on the Elements what they are but what they signifie look through the bush and see God through the Sacrament and see Christ Iesus to our comfort Worldly things their suddain downfall AMongst many other significant devices some beyond the Seas have the picture of a man with a full blown bladder on his shoulders another standing by and pricking the bladder with a pin the Motto Quam subitò hinting thereby the suddain downfall of all worldly greatnesse How soon is the Courtiers glory eclipsed if his Prince do but frown upon him and how soon the Prince himself become a Peasant if God give way unto it How soon are the windy hopes of sinfull men let our upon the least touch of Gods displeasure Riches honours preferments if God be but pleased to blow upon them are suddenly reduced to nothing Magistrates called to do Justice at all times IT was a piece of good counsell that Mordecai gave unto Hester she was fearfull to go in to the King because he had made a Law That whosoever came into the inner Court without his leave should be put to death But what saies Mordecai What is it that troubles thee why dost thou shrink for fear Who knowes whether thou art come to the Kingdom for such a time as this So it may be truly said of all Magistrates of all that are in place of Government whether it be in Church or Common-wealth that they are in their places for such a time as this that occasiones Dei nutus occasions are Gods beckonings As it is said of a King of Persia that he would many times alight off his horse onely to do justice to a poor body a good coppy for Magistrates to write by to be ready to do justice and judgment at all times upon all occasions while they have time that is while they have season They may have time to live in but they may out-live the season to do good in to work for God and act for Christ to relieve the oppressed and therein not to be over-poysed by any power or byas'd by any respects whatsoever All Knowledge but in part AMong the Romans Nasica was called Corculum for his pregnancy of wit among the Grecians Democritus Abderita was called not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not Wise but Wisdom it self among the Britans Gildas was call'd Gildas sapiens Gildas the sage among the Iewes Aben Ezra was called Hechachan they said of him That if Knowledge had put out her candle at his brain she might light it again and that his head was the throne of wisdom Before him among the Israelites Achitophel was the man his counsell an Oracle Here now was a pack of wise men but why Nilus should overflow in the Summer when waters are at the lowest or why the Loadstone should draw Ironâ—o â—o it or incline to the Pole-star which of them with all their knowledge can give a reason of either And as in human so in divine knowledge the most acute and judicious have and must acknowledge their ignorance and deplore their errours in divers points We know but in part Then if he that learned his Divinity among the Angels yea to whom the holy Ghost was an immediate Tutor did know but in part it is well with us if we know but part of that part To be deliberate in our Prayers unto God IT is observable that when a man is to swim over some River having thrown himself into the water he passeth as far as he can by the strength of his first stroke and then being as it were at a stand he fetcheth another stroke and so a third and a fourth till he come to the place where he would be So in the marter of prayer in our addresses unto God we must do as that godly Martyr of Christ Mr. Iohn Bradford was said to do not to ramble from one petition to another till he had brought his heart into a perfect frame of prayer so that every passage of prayer had its full work As for instance In the Lords prayer when a man shall say Thy kingdome come and then shall be thinking with himself O but if it should now come what a case am I in that am thus unprovided Then in the midst of these thoughts say Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaver letting the tongue go on whilst the heart is on somewhat else this is an errour a green wound easie to be cured being one good thought in stead of another which is to be done by serious and deliberate attendance and carefull dwelling on one particular till another be presented Merit-mongers confuted THose of the old World to get them a name upon earth made Brick of their own devising and built them a Babel a Tower that must reach up to Heaven and when they had all done they had but brick for stone and slime for morter and the end was confusion And such there are who to get them a name and an opinion of being more holy than other men Touch me not I am of purer mold than thou art make brick of their own pure naturalls and inherent righteousnesse to build up a Babel of Merit that shall gain them the Kingdom of Heaven And when they shall have all done it is but the brick and slime of mortall corruption and they can prognosticate to themselves no fairer end than that of Babel was Confusion Humility occasioned by the consideration of our former and present condition JAcob humbles himself when his brother Esau came against him he knew himself to have been poor and in a low condition O Lord saies he I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies and of all thy truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant For with my staffe I passed over this Iordan and now I am become two bands And are there not many in this great City that came hither with a stick in their hands a freez-coat on their backs and a little spending mony in their purses poor servants then God wot but now they have gotten two bands wife and children mony and trading The consideration of these things how God hath dealt with them from time to time in the time of â—icknesse and sorrow in the time of health and prosperity how he hath brought them from one condition to another from a condition of want to a condition of plenty and from a condition of abundance to a condition of want again I
by the best Translators Chamois by some others Camelo-pard a kind of Camell that hath an Horses neck an Oxes foot a Camells head and is spotted like a Panther or a Leopard Just such are all hypocriticall wretches they have many shapes wherein to act the part of their deep dissimulation If you look upon their devotion they appear to be Saints in their dealings you shall find them Devills Oracles in their discourse Goats in the bed snares at the board heavy censurers of others for sleight faults boasters of their own goodnesse the beating of whose pulse in matters of piety is unequal In publick actions hard strong and quick in private matters weak soft and dull shrinking in persecution for painted faces cannot endure to come nigh the fire Scripture-knowledge and Scripture-practice to go together ERasmus in a Dialogue makes mention of a swaggering Ruffian that would be thought a good Christian whom he calls Cyclops Evangeliophorus and saies of him that he had hanging at his girdle on one side a new Testament fairly gilt and bossed on the other side a bottle of rich Sack To convince him he is asked What if he were tyed to carry that bottle alwaies at his girdle and never to taste of it or to taste it onely and never to drink it down were not this a punishment as reall as that of Tantalus was poetical But what if he did as his manner was drink soundly of it would it not then warm his heart quicken his spirits and chear his countenance Yes But much more would that Book do so if he would but spiritually feed thereon concoct digest and turn it into nutriment in his life and conversation Otherwise it was but a poor use and benefit that he made of his Bible when one day in a rage he broke a fellowes head with it that inveighed against the Gospell Thus alas to carry a Bible in our hands and not to have a lesson of it in our hearts not to be mindfull of the doctrin in our practise were but to be like that Asse that carries rich burthens and feeds upon thistles In effect a man knowes no more than he does Two things are the Esse of a Christian Profession and Practise of the truth The best argument of our conversion is our good conversation The Apostles did not onely preach heavenly Sermons but did gracious deeds and thereupon a whole Book was written of them called The Acts of the Apostles Eloquence if not affected an excellent gift of God IT was certainly a great fault it Spyridon Bishop of Cyprus though otherwise a very godly man that when Triphilliâ—s his brother Biâ—hop more eloquent haply then himself was preaching on that Text of the Paralytick Take up thy bed and walk Mar. 2. 4. where in stead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the words being synonymous not brooking that he should vary the least tittle of the Text though for another of the self-same signification said unto him What art thou better than Christ himself that used the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And thereupon rose up off his seat and departed in great discontent This was somewhat too much for certainly there is some latitude some Christian liberty left wherein to expatiate Eloquence without all doubt is a singular gift of God if not affected idolized abused and becomes no man better then a Divine whose part it is by the tongue of the Learned to time a word and to set it upon its circumferences to declare unto a man his Righteousnesse when not one of a thousand can do it like him to seek to find out acceptable words such as have goads and nails in them being neither lecta nor neglecta too curious nor too carelesse because that Gods holy things must be handled sanctè magis quam scitâ— with fear and reverence rather then with wit and dalliance Profession without Practice signifieth nothing WHen we see an Image stand still without motion be it the effigies or portraiture of any Emperour or King or if possible to be contracted within the bounds of humane limits the picture of some Common-wealth exquisitly graven in mettall or painted out in lively colours we know that for all the eyes and mouth and nose that it hath it hath no life in it So when we see professors of religion without the powerfull practice of godlinesse and supream Officers of State without the administration of Iustice we know and can safely conclude that the life of God is not in them that they are not acted by any divine principle within but are meer Idolls and Images of vanity The heart of a true Christian restlesse without Christ. THe Sea works the Heavens move the Fire is active onely the Earth stands still Thus the heart of man is alwaies in motion and never rests sleeping or waking it fancieth more in a moment then all the men in the world are able to compasse in many years Lust enticeth it vanity possesseth it curiosity leads it away anger disquiets it concupiscence polluteth it pleasure seduceth it envy torments it sorrow and sadnesse vex and molest it Atque hisunt manes quos patitur for having set it self upon the right object Christ Iesus it is despersed and scattered through many things seeks for rest and finds none till it return back unto him that is the true rest indeed A bâ—sie-body described THe Squirrell as Naturalists say is a witty nimble creature and some write of her that because she cannot swim well when she would crosse a brook she gets a piece of the bark of a Tree puts it into the water and her self into it as in a bâ—at and then holds up her bushy tail instead of a sail that so the wind may drive her over A busie active creature it is And thus the pragmaticall bâ—sie-body hath an â—ar in every mans boâ—t an eye on every mans window is here and there and every where but where he should be is still busie but never hath any thanks for his labour God rewarding the least of faithfull service done unto him NEbuchâ—dnâ—â—â—â—r the tyrant going upon Gods erâ—and shall have Egypt as his pay for his pains at Tyre and Simon of Cyrene for that involuntary service he did our Saviour in carrying his Crosse shall not onely himself but his two sons also Rufus and Alexander have a nail and a name in Gods house better then that of sons and of daughters How much more then will God gratifie graciously accept and liberally reward the small offerings of his wâ—ak â—ervants when he sees them to proceed from great love He takes goats hair from some hands as well as Iewells and two â—â—tes from a mean body in as good part as two millions from those that are more able to note that a ready heart â—ets an high price with him upon a low present Doth Iob
such as make low accompt of Mens lives that destroy where they might build hopes of amendment and down with root and branch where they need but pare the leafe such in discharge of their place are govern'd more by Custome then Conscience who take dark circumstance and lame surmise for evidence rashly giving sentence and as precipitately proceeding to Execution Graces of Gods spirit not given in vain THe Husbandman the more he improves his ground the greater crop he looks for the completer the Souldier is armed the better service is required of him The Scholler that is well instructed must shew great fruits of his proficiency Thus the Earthly part of Man soaks in the sweet showers of Grace that fall upon it The bleffed Spirit of God puts upon us that Panoplia that whole Armour of God And the same Spirit teacheth us all things leads us into all Truth and brings all things to our Remembrance which Christ hath spoken for our good Shall we then being thus manured thus armed thus instructed not bring forth fruits in some measure answerable to so great Indulgence Shall such blessings of God be received in vain It must not be we may read these and the like expressions in Scripture Occupy till I come Give an accompt of thy sâ—ewardship To whom much is given much is required What 's the meaning Cum crescunt dona rationes etiam crescunt donorum We must give an accompt as well of Graces received from God Whether they be those summer Graces of Prosperiâ—y Joy and Thansgiving or those winter Graces of Adversity Patience and Perseverance or the Grace of Humility which is alwayes in season as of Sins of what kind soever committed against him Sacriledge justly rewarded to take heed of committing it IT was a suddain and sad end that befell Cardinall Wolsey whilst he sought more to please his Soveraign then his Saviour And the revenging hand of God pursued his five chiefe Agents that were most instrumentall for him in his sacrilegious enterprise One of them killed his fellow in a Duell and was hang'd sor it a third drowned himselfe in a well a fourth fell from a great Estate to extream beggery Doctor Allen the last and chiefest of them being Arch-bishop of Dublin was cruelly slain by his Enemies Utinam his similibus exemplis c. saith the Author of this story I would men would take heed by these and the like examples how they meddle with things consecrated to God for if divine Justice so severely punished those that converted Church-goods though not so well administred to better uses doubtlesse And why but because they did it out of selfish and sinfull self-interested Principles and â—nds What shall become of such as take all occasions to rob God that they might enrich themselves Spoliantur Ecclesiae Scholae c. was Luthers complaint of old Parishes and Churches are polled and robbed of their maintenance as if they meant to starve us all The comfortable Resurrection of Gods poore despised People WHen we see one in the streets from every dunghill gather old pieces of rags and durty clouts little would we think that of those old rotten ragges beaten together in the Mill there should be made such pure fine white Paper as afterwards we see there is Thus the poor despised Children of God may be cast out into the world as dung and dross may be smeared and smooted all over with lying amongst the pots they may be in tears perhaps in bloud both broken-hearted and broken-boned yet for all this they are not to dispair for God will make them one day shine in joy like the bright stars of Heaven and make of them Royall Imperiall Paper wherein he will write his own name for ever Conversion of a sinner matter of great rejoycing IT is observable that Abraham made a feast at the weaning of his Son Isaac not on the day of his Nativity not on the day of his Circumcision but on that day when he was taken from his Mothers breast from sucking of Milk to taste of stronger meat This made a festival in Abrahams family and may very well make a feast in ever true Repentant sinners heart Nascimuâ— carâ—ales allactamur spirituales We are all of us conceived and born in sinne and with our Mothers milk have sucked in the bitter juyce of corrupt Nature but when it comes so to passe that by the speciall illumination of Gods holy Spirit shining into our hearts that we are weaned from the things of this World and raised up to those things which are at Gods right hand that we are new Creatures new Men c. This hath alwayes been matter of great rejoycing to the Angels of Heaven and must needs be the like to every sinner that is so converted Childrens Christian instruction the great benefit thereof IT is reported of the Harts of Scythia that they teach their young ones to leap from bank to bank from Rock to Rock from one turfe to another by leaping before them which otherwise tâ—ey would never practise of themselves by which meanes when they are hunted no Man or beast can ever overtake them So if Parents would but exercise their Children unto Godlinesse principle them in the wayes of God whilst they are young and season their tender years with goodnesse dropping good things by degrees into their narrow-moutn'd vessels and whetting the same upon their Memories by often repeating Sathan that mighty Hunter should never have them for his prey nor lead them captive at his Will they would not be young Saints and old Devils as the prophane Proverb hath it but young Saints and old Angels of heaven The joyes of Heaven not to be expressed St. Augustine tells us that one day while he was about to write something upon the eighth verse of the Thirty sixth Psalm Thou shalt make them drink of the Rivers of thy Pleasures And being almost swallowed up with the Contemplation of Heavenly joyes one called unto him very loud by his name and enquiring who it was he answered I am Hierom with whom in my life time thou hadst so much conference concerning doubts in Scripture and am now best experienced to resolve thee of any doubts concerning the joyes of Heaven but onely let me first aske thee this question Art thou able to put the whole Earth and all the waters of the Sea into a little 〈◊〉 Canst thou measure the waters in thy fist and mete out Heaven with thy span or weigh the Mountains in scales and the hills in a ballance If not no more is it pâ—ssible that thy understanding should comprehend the least of those joyes And certainly The joyes of Heaven are inexpressible so sayes St. Paul 1 Cor. 2. 9. The eye may see farre it may reach the Stars but not the joyes of Heaven the ear may extend it selfe a great
his Vineyard to keepers but God keeps his Church in his own hands he may use the help of men but it must be as tools rather then as his agents he works by them they cannot works but by him so that in spite of the gates of hell his Church his Vine shall flourish Even so return O God of hosts look down from heaven and visit this Vineyard of ours thy Church which thy right hand hath planted and the branch which thou hast made strong for thy self The sad condition of all impenitent Sinners IT is said of Antoninus Arch-Bishop of Florence that after he had heard the confession of a wretched Usurer he gave no other Absolution than this Deus miseratur tui si vult condonet tibi peccata tua quod non credo c. God be mercifull to thee if he please and forgive thee thy sins which I do not believe and bring thee to eternall life which is impossible i. rebus sic stantibus if God doth not wonderfully work a strange conversion in his heart And such and so sad is the condition of every unregenerate man every impenitent sinner they are no other then bondslaves of Sathan firebrands of hell vessells of wrath men without God in the world No wonder then that as long as they continue in such a wretched estate God cease to be mercifull unto them deny them forgivnesse of sins here in this life and admission into his Kingdom of glory hereafter God as he is a God of mercy so he is a God of judgment and therefore not to be provoked NOthing so cold as Lead yet nothing more scalding if molten nothing more blunt then Iron and yet nothing so keen if sharpned The aire is soft anâ— tender yet out of it are ingendred thundrings and lightnings the Sea is calm ana smooth but if tossed with tempests it is rough above measure Thus it is that mercy abused turns to fury God as he is a God of mercies so he is a God of judgmen and it is a fearfull thing to fall into his punishing hands He is loath to strike but when he strikes he strikes home If his wrath be kindled yea but a little wo be to all those on whom it lights how much more when he is sore displeased with a people or person Who knowes the power of â—is anger saies Moses Let every one therefore submit to his Iustice and implore his Mercy Men must either burn or turn for even our God is a consuming fire Promises of God the excellency and comforts that are to be found in them IT is said of Mr. Bilney that blessed Martyr of Christ Iesus that being much wounded in conscience by reason of the great sin he had committed in subscribing to the Popish errors he was much comforted by reading those words 1 Tim. 1. 15. This is a faithfull saying and worthy of all acceptance that Iesus Christ came into the world to save sinners c. Thus was Beza supported under his troubles by the words of Christ Ioh. 10. 27 28 29. Mention is also made of one that was upheld under great affliction and comforted from that of Esay chap. 26. 3. of another in the like condition from that of the same Prophet chap. 57. 15. of a third a young Maid upon the knowledge of a reverend Divine yet living that went triumphantly to Heaven by the refreshing she found in that well known Text Math. 11. 28. Many also are the drooping spirits that have been wonderfully cheared by reading the eighth Chapter of St. Pauls Epistle to the Romans and by that Text of St. Iohn in his first Epistle chap. 3. 14. We know that we have passed from death to life c. And thus it is that great is the excellency transcendent the comforts that are to be found in Gods Promises they are the good Christians Magna Charta for Heaven the onely assurance that he hath to claim by There is no comfort no true reall virtuall comfort but what is built and founded upon a Scripture-promise if otherwise it is presumption and cannot properly be called true comfort The Promises are pabulum fidei anima fidei the food of faith and the very soul of faith They are a Mine of rich treasures a Garden full of choise flowers able to enrich the soul with all celestial contentments to sweeten the sourest of conditions The truth is there is no promise of God but if he be pleased to illighten unto us and shew us our interest in it will afford a plentifull harvest of everlasting joy and that which is true and reall contentment indeed The griping Usurer and his Broker characterised IT is commonly known that the neather Milstone stands or lies still and stirs not So the wretched rapacious griping Usurer sits at home and spends his time in a kind of diabolicall Arithmetick as Numeration of hours daies and monies Substraction from other mens estates and Multiplication of his own untill he have made Division between his soul and Heaven and divided the Earth to himself and himself if God be not the more mercifull to a worser place And for his Broker he is not much unlike the upper Milstone without which the neather may seem to be unservicable that is quick stirring and runs round so he is still in action like the Iackall yelping before the Lion for a prey ever contriving how he may bring grist to the Mill mony into the Usurers bank and sorrow to his own soul. Hence is that phrase of the Prophet Grinding the faces of the poor who like corn are ground to powder betwixt them But let all such know that it were better for them if they endured all temporall punishment whatsoever that a milstone were tyed about their necks and so cast into the bottom of the sea than that both body and soul should be cast into hell fire for evermore The danger of fleshly lusts to be avoided CLemens Alexandrinus hath a story that the first who found out fire was a Satyre a wild man and perceiving it to be a creature beautifull and resplendent like a hot suitor he offers to kisse it But the fire speaking to him said Take heed Satyr come not near me for if thou dost I shall burn thy beard The meaning is that unclean lust being a fire which lâ—st fâ—ll be arts have found out they aâ—e told if they meddle with it they are sure to be burnt by it Can a man go upon hot coals and not be burnt take fire in his bosome and his cloaths not be consumed go in unto a strange woman and be innocent come near such a she-fire and not be sindg'd He cannot it is impossible He may tread upon coals thinking to tread them out but he will first tread the fire into his own feet he may think to take fire in his bosome and his cloaths
unresolved to several fortunes they swell in the Sun-shine of their prosperity and look big in the daies of their advancement but when storms of danger and troubles arise they are dried up with dispair and hang down their heads like a bulrush For a mind unprepared for dysasters is unfurnished to sustain it when it commeth he that soareth too high in the one forâ—une sinketh too low in the other Insolent braving and base fear are individuall and infeparable companions But the resolved man is ever the same even in the period of both fortunes The truly noble Souldier THe Getulian captive as Pliny relateth the story escaped the danger of being devoured by many Lions through her humble gesture and fair language as saying unto them That she was a silly woman a banished fugitive a sickly feeble and weak creature an humble suitor and lowly suppliant for mercy As therefore the Lion is the most noble of all the beasts of the Forrest who never shewes his force but where he finds resistance satis est prostrâsse do but yield and he is quiet Such is every truly noble souldier every generous souldier the most honourable of all other professions who holds it as great a glory to relieve the oppressed as to conquer the enemy that is in arms against him How it is that the self-conceited vain-glorious man deceives himself IT is usually so that the vain-glorious man looks upon himself through a false glasse which makes every thing seem fairer and greater then it is and this flatulous humour filleth the empty bladder of his vast thoughts with so much wind of pride that he presumes that fortune who hath once been his good Mistresse should ever be his hand-maid But let him know that the wings of self-conceit wherewith he towreth so high are but patched and pieced up of borrowed feathers and those imped too in the soft wax of uncertain hope which upon the encounter of every small heat of danger will melt and fail him at his greatest need For fortune deals with him as the eagle with the Tortoise she carries him the higher that she may break him the casier It would be therefore good advice that in the midst of his prosperity he would think of the worlds instability and that fortune is constant in nothing but incoâ—stancy How it is that Children are very bardly drawn from their naturall inclinations DO but set the eggs of divers fouls under one Hen and when they are disclosed the Kite will be ravenous the Dove harmlesse the Duck will be padling in the water and every one will be prosecuting its naturall inclination and condition Or take the youngest Woolf-whelp imploy the greatest art use the utmost skill that may be to make it gentle and loving and you shall find it but labour lost a thing altogether impossible for it will never be forced or intreated from its naturall curstnesse and cruelty Thus it cannot be denyed but that education hath a considerable power to qualifie breeding in a good family may civilize but never nullifie the proper nature of any thing or person It is therefore the duty of Parents earnestly to pray that God would be pleased to infuse such souls into their children as may be endewed with sweet and gratious inclinations if otherwise to use all fit means to temper the worst not presuming to effect an absolute extirpation thereby but by the miraculous power of him who can make from bitter fountains to deflow sweet and pleasant waters from the worst of nature the best of grace and goodnesse The different conditions of men in the matter of Society laid open DIvers and sundry are the conditions of men in society but three are most remarkable i. e. The open the concealed and the well-tempered betwixt these As for the first they are of so thin a composition that a man by a little converse may see as easily through them as if they were made of glasse for in every discourse they are ready to unbosome their thoughts and unlock the very secrets of their hearts The second sort are so tenacious so reserved and closely moulded that they seem like those coffers that are shut so fast that no discovery can be made where they may be opened so close that as they are of lesse delight for society so of lesse hazard to be trustud But the last and best composed and like some â—abinets that are not with difficulty unclosed and then discover unto you many things pleasant and profitable but yet so cunningly devised so artificially contrived that there will be some secret box that neither your eye nor wit can take notice of wherein is deposited a most proper and incommunicable treasure something that will give grace and much advantage to those that hear it Ministers to be accountable unto God for what they have received AS by the Law of Nature Redde depositum doth bind every such fiduciary engage every such Trustee not to use the pledge deposited as his own proper goods but to be accountable for it and restore it when it shall be called for if otherwise he is guilty of injustice and violating those dictamina rationis the very principles of naturall reason So it is with the Treasures of Gods truth committed to the hands of his Ministers they must acknowledge themselves to be but deposiâ—arii trusted as pledge-keepers not as proprietarii Lords and Masters of it for they are to be responsible in that great day of generall Audit how they have discharged their trust How it is that the People as to the generality are incompetent judges of the Preacher and his Doctrin IT is related of a â—ertain Bishop that a Visitation preached a very godly Sermon and withall so learned and plain that the descended to the capacity of the meanest hearers He was thereupon very much commended for his grave gesture for his distinct and sober delivery for his fatherly instructions speaking plainly and familiarly as a father to his children not so earnest and vehement and hot as many young Novices are c. For their Minister he was but a youngling and as good as no body in comparison of him and if they had but such a Preacher they would give I know not what to enjoy him This great and generall commendation was signified to the Bishop in private who to make tryall of the peoples judgment came the next year after in the attire of an ordinary and poor Minister offering himself to be their Preacher it being noysed abroad that their own was upon his remove to another place The Bishop having gained the Pulpit purposely chose another Text differing from his former in words but not in matter so that in a manner he preached the very self-same Sermon But the same persons that did so much commend him before did now as much discommend him and said That he had no good gesture but a heavy
of those thirty would prove to be overspread with Heathenish Idolatry six of the eleven remaining with the doctrine of Mahomet so there would remain but five parts of the thirty wherein were any thing of Christianity And among those Christians so many seduced Papists on one hand and formal Protestants on the other that surely but few are saved Nay such is the paucity of true believers that as that Olive-Tree mentioned by the Prophet with two or three berries on the uppermost bough Satan may be said to have the harvest and God onely a few gleanings It should therefore make us strive the more tanquam pulvere Olympico that we may be of the number of those few that shall inherit Salvation Spiritual sloath in the wayes of God reproved THere is mention made of certain Spaniards that live near unto a place where there is great store of Fish yet are so lazy that they will not be at the â—ains to catch them but buy of their Neighbours And such is the sinful stupidity of most Men such the spiritual sloath upon them that though Christ be near them though Salvation be offered in the Gospel and as it were brought to their very houses yet they will not work out their salvation This was the case of the Israelites It is said that they despised the pleasant Land Psal. 106. 24. And what should be the reason Canaan was worth the looking after for it was a Paradise of delight a type of Heaven I but they thought it would cost them a great deal of trouble and hazard in the getting and they would rather go without it And thus many had rather go sleeping to Hell then sweating to Heaven To be more carefull for the Body then the Soul a thing justly reproveable THere is a Parable of a Woman which travelling with child brought forth a twin and both children being presented to her she falls deeply and fondly in love with the one but is carelesse and disâ—respectfull of the other this she will nurse her self but that is put forth her love grows up with the child she kept herself she decks it fine she feeds it choicely but at last by overmuch pampering of it the child surfets becomes mortally sick and when it was dying she remembers her self and sends to look after the other child that was at nurse to the end she might now cherish it but when the Messenger came she finds it dying and gasping likewise and examining the Truth she understands that through the Mothers carelesnesse and neglect to look after it the poor child was starved thus was the fond partiall Mother to her great grief sorrow and shame deprived of both her hopefull babes at once Thus every Christian is this Mother the children are our Body and Soul the former of these it is that Men and Women fall deeply and fondly in love with whilst indeed they are carelesse and neglect the other this they dresse and feed nothing is too good or too dear for it but at the last the body surfets comes by some means or other to it's death-bed when there is very little or no hope of life then Men begin to remember the Soul and would think of some course to save it the Minister he is sent for in all haste to look after it but alasse he finds it in part dead in part dying and the very truth is the owner through neglect and carelesnesse hath starved the Soul and it is ready to go to Hell before the Body is fit for the Grave And so the foolish fond Christian to his eternal shame and sorrow loseth both his Body and Soul for ever The nature and properties of the Holy Spirit set forth for our instruction in the similitude of a Dove THough Pliny and all the Heathen writers were silent the Holy Word of God hath enough to set out unto us the nature and properties of the Dove There is first of all Noahs Dove with an Olive branch in her mouth a peaceable one 2. Davids dove for the colour with Feathers silver white not speckled as a bird of divers colours but white the emblem of sincerity and there 's Solomons dove for the eye a single and direct eye not learing as a Fox and looking divers wayes 3. Esayes Dove for the voice in patience mourning not in impatience murmuring and repining Lastly our Saviour Christs Dove for bill and claw innocent and harmlesse not bloudy or mischievous Now qualis species talis spiritus as the Dove so the Holy Ghost 1. A Spirit that loves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men of one accord 2. Et qui â—ugit fictum cannot abide new tricks meer fictions indeed feyned by feyned Christians party-propositions half in the mouth and half in the mind 3. And when he speaketh he speaketh for us with sighs and groans that cannot be expressed such is his love and so earnest 4. And hurts none not when he was in the resemblance of a Dove No not when he was Fire he was harmlesse Fire at the same time And thus it is that the nature and properties of the Holy Spirit are set forth for our instruction in the resemblance of a Dove teaching us to be peaceable to love singlenesse in meaning speaking and dealing to sufâ—er harm but to do none Magistrates Ministers c. to be Examples of good unto others and why so NAturalists report of the bird Ibis whereof there are many in Egypt especially in the City of Alexandria that it â—ateth up all the garbage of the City but leaves somewhat behind it that is more noysome then any filth it had eaten Others write that it will devour every Serpent it meets with but from the egge of this bird cometh the most hurtfull of all Serpents the Basilisk the sight whereof killeth Thus it is to be heartily wished that those who are entrusted for the Peoples good whether in Church or State be not like unto this bird seem to do something good but much hurt withall but that in them as they are Gods upon Earth may alwaies be found that which the Psalmist hath of God in Heaven Thou art good and dost good Psalm 86. 5. that their lives may be Examples of good because that otherwise their authority will be lesse prevailing for suppressing those evils whereunto their bad Examples give encouragement God to have all the glory JUstinian is said to have made a Law that no Master-workman should put up his name within the body of that building which he made out of another Mans cost And our own History tells us that when William of Wickham then Chaplain to Edward the third was by him made overseer of the work for the repair of Windsor Castle that those three words which he caused to be inscribed upon the great Tower This made Wickham had not he construed them another way as that no he made the work
small Vessel who but a little before wanted Sea-room for his Navy But if ever there was a lively spectacle of the Worlds Vanity and misery it was in Zedekiah This is the Worlds inconstancy the Worlds grand Impostury the Flux and reflux of Honours and advancement Men erewhile shining in glory like Stars in the Firmament now vanishing like Comets How hath the Moon of great Mens honours been eclipsed at the Full and the Sun of their pomp gone down at Noon such is the incertainty of all Worldly honours and preferments whatsoever God fetching testimonies of Truth out of the mouths of Adversaris THe Egyptian Sorcerers were forced to confesse that the finger of God was in the miracles that Moses wrought before Pharaoh Nebuchadnezzar as stiff as he was against the three Children yet when they are freed from the flames God extorteth this speech from him That no god could deliver like their God The Wife of Haman as ill-affected as she was towards Mordecai yet she saith If Mordecai be of the seed of the Iews before whom thou hast begun to fall thou shalt not prevail against him The Officers that were sent to apprehend Christ instead of bringing Him they brought a testimony of him Never Man spake like this Man But to come nearer Stephen Gardiner sometimes a great Man of this Nation and Bishop of Winchester lying on his Death-bed and the Bishop of Chichester his old acquaintance coming to visit him When the promises of the Gospel and salvation by the blood of Christ was laid to his Soul made answer Nay if you open that gap once then farewell all Not much unlike hereunto is the close of that learned Cardinal who after the expence of many Arguments to the contrary concludes Sed propter incertitudinem propriae justitae et periculum inanis gloriae â—utissimum est c. that because of the uncertainty of our own Righteousnesse and the danger of vain-glory the most safe way is to rely upon the Merits of Christ Iesus Thus it is that God can fetch light out of darknesse testimonies of Truth out of the mouths of very Adversaries Magna est veritas et praevalebit so great is the Truth that it will prevail and so powerful is God that he hath not onely the tongues of Men but their hearts also and turns them as the Waters of the South which way soever he please so that Balaam shall blesse those whom Balaac curseth and the Midianites thrust their swords into one anothers bowels Mad-men must they needs be then to lock up the Truth for it will break forth maugre all opposition whatsoever God the onely searcher of the Heart of Man THe Poets feign That when Iupiter had made Man and was delighted with his own beauteous Fabrick he asked Momus What fault he could espy in that curious Piece what out of square or worthy blame Momus commended the proportion the complexion the disposition of the lineaments the correspondence and dependance of the parts and in a word the symmetry and harmony of the whole He would see him go and liked the motion He would hear him speak and praised his voice and expression But at last he spyed a fault and asked Iupiter whereabout his Heart lay He told him within a secret Chamber like a Queen in her privy lodging whither they that come must first passe the great Chamber and the Presence there being a Court of guard Forces and Fortifications to save it shadows to hide it that it might not be visible Thâ—re then is the fault saith Momus thou hast forgotten to make a Window into this Chamber that Men might look in and see what the Heart is a doing and whether her Recorder the Tongue do agree with her meaning Thus Man is the Master-piece of Gods Creation exquisitely and wonderfully made but his Heart is close and deceitful above all things Had he but pectus Fenestratum a glasse-window in his heart How would the black devices which are contrived in tenebris appear palpably odious How would the coals of festring Malice blister the tongues and scald the lips of them that imagine mischief in their hearts Then it would be seen how they pack and shufflle and cut and deal too but it is a poor game to the Innocent In the mean time let all such know that the privy Chamber of the Heart hath a window to Gods though not to Man's or Angels inspection The Vnion and fellowship of Gods Children one with another THe least drop of Water hath the nature of its Element hath the entire properties of it partakes of the round figure of that Element and best agrees and unites it self to Water In like manner it is with Fire and the rest of the Elements being Homogeneall bodies every part doth suscipere rationem totius participate of the name and Nature of the whole shuns what is contrary to that Nature and most willingly gathers it self to that which is of the same kind So it is with the true members of that mystical body whereof Christ is the head such is the Union Unanimity association and fellowship of the People of God one amongst another that they cannot suffer themselves to be combined with wicked persons and unbelievers No they will associate none unto themselves by their good-wills who are not endowed with Grace and goodnesse and a godly conversation being the true qualities and marks of that true Church whereof they themselves are true Members Excellency of the Crown of glory MAny were the sorts of Crownes which were in use amongst the Romane Victors As first Corona Civica a Crown made of Oaken bowes which was given by the Romans to him that saved the life of any Citizen in battel against his Enemies 2. Obsidionalis which was of Grasse given to him that delivered a Town or City from siege 3. Muralis which was of Gold given to him that first scaled the Wall of any Town or Castle 4. Castralis which was likewise of Gold given to him that first entered the Camp of the Enemy 5. Navalis and that also of Gold given unto him that first boarded the Ship of an Enemy 6. Ovalis which was given to those Captains and that of Myrtle that subdued any Town or City or that won any Field easily without bloud 7. Triumphalis which was of Lawrell given to the chief General or Consull which after some signal Victory came home triumphing These with many other as Imperial Regall and Princely Crowns rather Garlands or Coroneâ—s then Crowns are not to be compared to the Crown of glory which God hath prepared for those that love him Who is able to expresse the glory of it Or to what glorious thing shall it be likened Ingenium fateor transcendit gloria If I had the Tongue of Men and Angells I were not able to decipher it as it worthily deserveth It is not onely a
imminent but cannot give themselves a supersedeas from Death approaching They are said to be like tumbling Seas whose boyling swelling overflowing waves bring terrour and trouble to all that are near them But God hath said unto them Hither shall ye come and no further here shall your proud waves be staid here in the midst of your march be it never so fierce shall the wheels of your Charriots be knocked off and here in the ruffe of all your greatnesse shall Death arrest you Marriage not to be made for Money onely THere was a Rich Man in Athens which had a daughter to marry and he asked counsel of Themistocles how to bestow her telling him that there was a very honest Man that made suit unto her but he was poor And there was a Rich Man which did also defire her but he was not Honest Themistocles answered that if he were to choose he would prefer Monilesse Men before Masterlesse money Intimating thereby that Marriage is not to be contracted for Money onely yet the question is now with what money not with what honesty the party whom they seek is endowed whether they be rich not whether they be godly What lands they have on Earth not what Inheritance they have in Heaven It is dos not Deus all 's good enough if there be goods enough it is Money that makes the Match But let such know that as their Money wasteth so their love weareth neither is there any Love or Friendship constant but that which is grounded on constant causes such as Vertue and Godlinesse which will hold out to the last The day of the last Judgment a terrible day THere is a story of two Souldiers that coming to the Valley of Iehosaphat in Iudea and one saying to the other Here in this place shall be the generall Iudgment Wherefore I will now take up my place where I will then sit and so lifting up a stone he sate down upon it as taking possession before-hand But being sate and looking up to Heaven such a quaking and trembling fell upon him that falling to the Earth he remembred the day of Iudgment with horrour and amazement ever after And to say truth so fearfull and terrible shall be the appearance of that day that our Saviour in some sort describing the same saith that then the powers of Heaven shall be shaken de Angelis hoc dicit saith S. Augustine Christ here speaketh of the Angels that trembling and great fear shall surprise them so that if those glorious spirits shall tremble at the horrour of that day who being guilty of no sin shall not then be judged How shall poor Martals stand amazed especially the wicked whose Iudgment and condemnation shall then be pronounced The benefit of History LUcius Lucullus being appointed Captain General over the Romane Forces against Mithridates had not great experience or knowledg in War but onely what he had gotten by reading History yet proved a discreet and Valiant Commander and vanquish't at that time two of the greatest Princes in the East Thus it is that History is and may be the director of meanest Men in any of their actions how others have behaved themselves upon several occasions and what hath followed thereupon It is a trusty Counsellour of State by whose advice and direction a Common-weal may be framed governed reformed and preserved an Army may be ordered Enemies vanquished and Victory obtained In it as in a glasse we see and behold Gods providence guiding and ruling the World and Mens actions which arrive often at unexpected events and even some times reach unto such ends as are quite contrary to the Actor's intentions It is a punisher of Vice presenting aged Folly green and fresh to Posterity not suffering Sin to dye much lesse to be buried in Oblivion It is also a Reâ—arder of Vertue reserving worthy deeds for Imitation A good Work though it dye in doing is a Reward to it self yet that some dull Natures might be stirred up the more and all benefited by seeing gratious steps before them this onely is exempted by a firm decree from the stroke of Death to live in History Men usually judging others to be like themselves IT is said of Moses and Ioshua that when they were coming down from the Mountain and heard a noise in the Camp Ioshua said There was a noise of War But Moses said the noise of them that sing do I hear Here was now great difference of these two great Mens Iudgments but the reason was that Ioshua being a Martial man therefore judgeth the noise to be a noise of War but Moses being a Man of Peace judgeth the noise to be a noise of Peace each of them judging according to their several dispositions Hence is that of the Philosopher Qualis quisque est tales existimat alios such as every one is the same he thinketh others to be measuring of other Mens actions by his own bushel The Lascivious Man thinketh others to be lascivious The Covetous person thinks others to be Covetous the Fool thinks every Man to be as arrant a Wise man as himself hoc proclivius suspicatur in alio c. Every Man readily suspects that of another which he findeth in himself Neglect of the Soul reproved THere is a story of one Pambo that on a time looking out at a Window and perceiving a Woman to spend a great deal of time in trimming her self fell a weeping And being demanded the cause answered Have not I a great cause to weep to see yonder poor creeping worm consume so long time in decking and adorning her poor Earthly carcase to the sight of Man and I spend so small time in preparing my Soul for God But were this Man alive now he would do nothing else but lament and take on to see how people of all sorts from the highest to the lowest are taken up with high thoughts of their bodies little thinking of their Souls Men and Women trifling out whole dayes inter pectinem et speculum in finifying of their Fantastical Phisâ—omies and not bestowing one hour in smoothing and rectifying of their most pretious Souls To Compassionate others miseries THere is mention made of some Mountains called Montes Lactarei the milky Mountains on which the Beasts that feed do give such nourishing milk that Mens bodies though much consumed away do thereby not onely receive strength and health but fatnesse also whereas the beasts themselves are exceeding lean so that after a wonderfull manner the beasts do not profit by that grasse by which the bodies of Men come on and prosper they go up and down near the thickets of the Mountains meagre and thin and as it were sustaining the condition of those who are healed by them Like to these beasts should Charity make every one of us that as we comfort the Poor with the milk that we give them the relief that we afford them
strawes sticks mud or filth that it holds Thus it is with most Mens Memories by Nature they are but as it were pertusa dolia meer riven tubs especially in good things very treacherous so that the vain conceits of Men are apt to be held in when divine Instructions and gracious Promises run through trifles and toyes and Worldly things they are apt to remember tenacious enough but for spiritual things they leak out like Israel they soon forget them Psal. 106. 13. Sin the remainders thereof even in the best of Gods Children AS in a piece of ground even after the best and most accurate tillage some seeds and roots of those noysome weeds wherewith it was formerly much pestered will still remain and will be springing up be it never so sedulously never so assiduously managed So after the gracious work of Regeneration there will be a smatch of all Sin in some degree or other hence it it that Methodius an ancient Bishop of the Church compares the inbred corruption of Man's heart to a wild Fig-tree growing upon the wall of some goodly Temple or stately Pallace whereof albeit the main trunk of the stem be broke off and stump of the root be plucked up yet the fibrous strings of it piercing into the joynts of the stone-work will not utterly be extracted but will be ever and anon shooting and sprowting out untill the whole frame of the building be dissolved and the stone-work thereof be disjoynted and pull'd in pieces Four sorts of Men undertaking the work of the Ministery MArcus Antonius de Dominis that shufling Archbishop of Spalato then Dean of Windsor and furnished with a fair Mastership besides would needs put on for a good fat Parsonage in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of that Church Dr. Thomas White the same that founded Sion Colledg London being one of the Prebends opposed the motion hinting to the greedy Bishop the unevennesse of his desires by telling him that there were four sorts of Men that undertook the work of the Ministery quorum pascere quidam nec volunt-nec valent quidam valent sed non volunt quidam volunt sed non valent quidam et valent et volunt some that neither would nor could discharge it some that could but would not some that would but could not some that both would and could And thus it is that some are to be found in the midst of us who such is their ignorance that they neither will nor can divide the word aright such as leaping from the shopboard leave sowing of garments to make a rent in the Church or if by chance they looked upon the university they think themselves as suâ—ficiently inspired with the gift of Prophecy as he did with the gift of Poetry thaâ— dream't upon the top of Parnassus Others there are such is their unworthinesse that can but will not that are able but sloathful in the work of the Lord and look more after the Fleece then the Flock committed to their charge some also such is their unhappinesse that would but cannot as hindred by some natural imperfection in the want of Utterance weaknesse of Memory or the like Other some again such is their glory that both can and will deliver the whole truth of God preach in season and out of season to the great comfort of themselves and those thaâ— hear them How the Heart of Man may be kept up steady in troublous times TO make a Ship ride steady in the midst of a tempe stuous Sea Four things are required First she must be well-built strongly well-timberd not weak artificially well-moulded not tender-sided Secondly she must be down ballasted with some sad and ponderous lading Thirdly low-masteâ— and low-built may be added too for high-carved and Tant-masted Ships wilâ— fetch way in a stresse Fourthly Sure Anchor'd by which means though moved she may be said to live and keep her station Thus the Heart of Man if ever we think to have it steady and fixed in the midst of troublesome times if eveâ— we labour for stable and composed spirits that whatever Hurricano storms or raging Tempests come down upon the World upon the Church upon the places where we live or upon our selves we may be able to ride it out We must be built upon a sure foundation and that is Jesus Christ well timberd with sanctifying Graces down ballasted with sound Iudgment and true Christian direction Low-masted to be humble and lowly not heady and high-minded And lastly sure Anchored having a sound solid and substantial Faith Faith not fancy Hope not like that of the Hypocrite which shall be cut off Iob 8. 13. 14. To keep close to the word of God especially in times of trouble IT is reported by Mr. Fox of one Gregory Crow a Seaman that being wracked at Sea and having cast all overboard he kept his New Testament about his neck and so floating upon his broken mast was after four daies discovered by some Passingers taken off all Frozen benummed and as it were sodden by the continual washings of the water but which was most observeable he kept his book close to him Thus if ever we intend to keep our heads above water in the Sea of this troublesome World we must be sure to keep close to the Word of God and not to suffer it to depart from us let money wares Ship and all go ere we forego that So likewise in all our doubtfull Cases whether Vowes Oaths Marriages dealing with Men entercourse with God or any difficulty whatsoever go to the Law and to the Testimony for resolution being glad that God hath found out a way to cast the wavering scale and to direct our conversation Faith a sure Anchor-hold in time of distresse AN Anchor being let fall it passeth through the Water and violently maketh its way through all the waves and billows never staying till it come at the bottom where taking hold of the ground which lyeth out of sight thus by a secret and hidden force staying the Ship so as though it be moved yet it is not removed but still keepeth her station Of such use is Faith to the Soul of Man when it is in a stress tossed with the waves and billows of Temptations and trials threatning to swallow it up Faith breaks through all never resting till it come at God himself who is invisible and taking hold upon him by a secret force it stayeth the Soul and keepeth it from being driven upon the rocks or sands of desperation An Anchor it is and a sure Anchor tâ—at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Sheat Anchor which the Soul must trust to which it may ride and live by in whatsoever stress can come down upon it The exceeding love of God to Mankind admirable IT is reported of a certain Merchant in London that he made much of a poor Cobler that dwelt near him and did as good
as do but plunge them further and deeper into such a Labyrinth of evils out of which they seldome or never get out again The great benefit of timely accompting with God A Merchant or Tradesman that at leisure times casteth up and ballanceth his Accompts and brings all to one entire summe is at any time ready if on a sodain he be called to a Reckoning though he have not time or leisure then amidst many distractions otherwise to run over Accompts or to cast up the particulars yet to tell how things stand with him it requires no more then the bare reading he needs not stand to recount it being sure it was well and truly cast up before So he that hath before-time truly examined his own estate and made up the Accompt betwixt God and his own Soul may thereby know how it standeth with him in regard of God by calling to mind onely the issue of his former Examination when by reason of disturbance and distraction through the violence of Temptation he shall have small liberty and lesse leiâ—ure to take any exact tryall or proof of it at the present Ignorance especially in the wayes of God reproved SOcrates being asked What was the most beautiful Creature in the world He answered A Man deck'd and garnished with Learning And Diogenes being demanded What burthen the Earth did bear most heavy replyed An ignorant and illiterate Man Now if these Philosophers did thus judge of the excellency of Knowledge and vilenesse of Ignorance How should Christians blush for very shame that having lived so long in the School of Christ trod so often upon the threshold of Gods Sanctuary and sate so many years under the droppings of Gospel-dispensations they should yet be found ignorant of Christ and of the wayes to everlasting happinesse All the Creatures subservient to the good Will and Pleasure of God IT is reported of the River Nilus that it makes the Land barren if in ordinary places it either flow under fifteen cubits or above seventeen And therefore that Prester-Iohn through whose Country it runneth and in which it ariseth from the Hills called The Mountains of the Moon can at his pleasure drown a greâ—t part of Egypt by letting out into the River certain vast Ponds and Sluces the receptacles of the melted snow from the Mountains Which that he may not do The Turks who are now the Lords of Egypt pay a great tribute unto him as the Princes of that Land have done time out of mind which tribute when the great Turk denyed to pay till by experience he found this to be true he was afterwards forced with a greater summe of Money to renew his peace with that Governour of the Abussines and to continue his ancient pay The truth of this Relation may be questionable but this we are all bound to believe That the great Emperour of Heaven and Earth who sits above us can at his pleasure make our Land and all the Regions of the Earth fruitful or barren by restraining or letting loose the influences of his blessings from above At his Command the winds blow and again are husht the Ayr pours down rain or sends Mildews upon the Earth and it rests in his power to make our Land barren if we continue disobedient or to fructifie it more and more if we repent He hath dams and ponds yea an Ocean of Judgments in store which he can when it seems him good let down upon us to make both the Land fruitlesse and the Soul it self accursed that rebelleth Not onely Fire or hail or lightning or Thunder or Vapours or Snow or stormy winds blasting or Mildews but even whole Volleys or Volumes of Curses more then can be numbred are prest to do his Will to afâ—lict and vex them that grieve his holy Spirit by their sins and daily prâ—vocations Heaven a place of Holinesse IT was a good Inscription which a bad Man set upon the door of his house Per me nihil intret malt Let no evil passe through me Whereupon said Diogenes Quomodo ingredietur Dominus How then shall the Master get into his own house A pertinent and ready answer How it agrees with our Mansions upon Earth let every Man look to that But most sure it is that no unclean thing can enter into Heaven whatsoever is there is holy the Angels holy the Saints holy the Patriarks holy the Confessors Martyrs all holy but the Lord himself most holy and blessed to whom all of them as it were in a divine Antheme sing and say Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty of the glory God a sure fast Friend IT is usuall with Men to make towards a Sun-dyall whilest onely the Sun shineth And with Women to make much of Flowers and to put them in their bosomes whilâ—st they are grâ—en and flourishing but when once withered they cast them upon the dunghill But the Almighty deals not so with his Friends yea when their danger is greatest his help is nearest And though oft-times the case is so desperate that Friends society can onely afford pity not succour they may look on they cannot take off but the presence of God is ever active and powerfull And whereas most Faithful Friends part at death this Friend will not leave us David knew he would be with him in the shadow of death and S. Paul assureth us that neither death nor life shall separate his love not onely when we walk through the pleasant meadow of Prosperity but when we go through the salt-waters of Aâ—â—liction nay when we passe Mare mortuum the Sea of death he will be with us It is the deriding question which the Saints enemies put to them in the time of Affliction Ubi Deus Where is now their God but they may return a confident answer Hic Deus Our God is here nigh unto us round about us in the midst of us It was his promise to Ioshua then and is since repeated by S. Paul as belonging to all the Faithful I will never leave thee nor forsake thee To rely upon Gods blessing notwithstanding all opposition WHen an Alderman of London was given to understand by a Courtier that the King in his displeasure against the City threatned thence to divert both Term and Parliament to Oxford he asked Whether he would turn thither the channel of the Thames or no if not said he by the grace of God we shall do well enough Thus when either Envy of meaner Men repiâ—eth or the Anger of greater persons rageth against our lawful thriving we shall do well to remember That there is a River which shall make glad the City of God a current I mean of Gods blessings which whilest he vouchsafeth to our honest labours and legal Callings no malice of Man or Devill shall be able to stop or avert For whilest this blessed River of God keeps its
Judgments AS those that have the Iaundise see all things yellow by reason of the humour of that diâ—ease corrupting the sight by the overflowing of the gall over the whole body So men of corrupt Iudgments misapply matters and persons and are not able to give a right Iudgment according to truth but run on according as their Fancy leads them just like a blind Man that can see no more light at noon-day then at mid-night and must needs there mis-judg day for night and night for day Wanton Hearers of the Word reproved SUch as have weak and sickly stomachs are alwaies finding fault with the Cater Cook or Carver and think they could feed a great deal better if there were better provision And thus there are some queasy wanton Hearers of Gods Word such as find fault with their Pastor and think they could edify much better by such or such an other Wherein they say they know not what For it is neither Paul nor Apollos that can edify that is give encrease make the Word effectual God hath reserved that work to himself that so his Ordinance not the gifts his blessing not the commendations of the Preacher might be regarded that the Treasure might not be esteemed for the Vessel but the Vessel for the Treasure and so neither Paul magnified nor Apollos despised nor either or both relyed upon and God himself neglected Nor Hearing severed from Prayer for that makes Prayer abominable nor Prayer from Hearing for that makes Hearing unprofitable but that both being joyned together our obedience in Hearing may make our Prayers accepted and our fervency in praying may procure our hearing to be blessed The vast difference betwixt the Power of God and Man IN matters of Arithmeticall accompts set one against ten ten against an hundred an hundred against a thousand a thousand against ten thousand although there be great oddes yet there is some comparison but if a Man could set down an infinite number then there could be no comparison at all because the one is finite the other infinite So it is betwixt the Power of God and Man set all the Princes and Powers of the Earth in opposition to God they shall never be able to withstand him It was once the saying of Pompey That with one stamp of his foot he could raise all Italy up in arms And the mighty Men of the World may have Nations Kingdoms and Common-wealths at their command but yet God is more powerfull then them all If he do but arise they shall all of them flye before him If he once fall to fettering of Princes it shall be done so sure that no flesh shall be able to knock off their bolts again If he but once make fast the barrs of our City gates we may trust to it they shall be so fast that no Invader shall be able to break them open so infinite is his power that in Davids thoughts it was not to be matched Psal. 89. The great danger of Apostasie IN the affairs of this life it is a shame for a Man to begin an enterprise and not to go through to begin a piece of Work and leave it off in the middle it will give just occasion for every Man to point at him with his finger deride and jeer him saying This Man began to build and was not able to finish that he hath taken a great deal of pains to no other purpose but to leave a Monument of Folâ—y and Vanity for the World to laugh at And thus he that hath received the common graces of God and many good gifts of his Spirit which have enabled him to do much good and faithful service and then takes the grace of God and turns it into wantonnesse and smothers and quenches the Spirit Or having been in a fair way to Heaven having some time walked on Religiously and faithfully till he come within some sense of his Reward and within view of the Crown prepared for him then to turn out of the way and Apostatize in the broad way What is it else but to tread in a path that without Repentance will lead to utter destruction Heb. 6. Wicked Thoughts to be carefully washed off from the Heart IT is the part of a skilful Surgeon or Physitian not onely to take away any appearing Ulcer or to cool the heat of a burning Feaver with outward applications but to look into the inward causes and malignity of the disease and so to order the matter that the cause being taken away the effect may necessarily follow Now it is well known that the seed of all sins and the Well-spring of all Wickednesse ariseth from the Heart of Man the Heart is therefore to be washed as from all wickednesse so from all wicked thoughts they being the Sources and originals of all unrighteousnesse not that they are all so For they may be sometime accompanied with horror and detestation of Sin or cast into our Hearts by Sathan yet not consented unto but Men think too little of such thoughts the thoughts therefore that are to be thought on and cleansed from the Heart are such as proceed from our own corrupt Nature or suggested into our minds by the malice of Sathan whereunto we give consent and liking or else they be the allurements of the World which we cherish and delight in The high price of Mans Redemption AMongst the Romans thâ—â—e their proper goods and estates which Men had gotten in the Wars with hazard of their lives were called Peculium castrense or a Field-purchase Well then may the Church and every true Member therein be called Chrisâ—s Peculium castrense his purchase gotten not onely by the jeopardy of his life but with the losse of his life and bloud 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. And if it were possible he would rather lose his life a second time ere he would lose the least limb for which his life was so laid down Gods great tenders of Mercy to repentant Sinners IF a Iudge of an Assize should say to a Felon or some Malefactor in the Goal Confesse but your faults and become an honest Man I will pardon you and not onely so but you shall be made a Iustice of Peace or some great Man whereby you shall have power to judge and examine others Surely he would upon this promise be moved quickly to confesse the Felony and forgo his theft Thus it is that the Iudge of all the World makes great tenders of Mercy that if a Sinner will truly and from his heart confesse his sins and resolve to leave them he shall have pardoâ— and not onely so but he shall be made a King and Priest unto God the Father an heir of God and joynt-heir with Christ Jesus Rom. 8. 17. The fulnesse of Reward reserved till after this life PLutarch though an Heathen yet of Honourable esteem even to this day amongst us hath a
will not let him in or through long contagion of Sin be not able to let him in we must of necessity dye in our Sins and the case is evident not because he doth not offer Grace but because we receive it not when it is offered Otherwise thus IN the Fourteenth Chapter of St. Matthews Gospell our Saviour walking on the Sea bade St. Peter come unto him who being not any thing acquainted with such a slippery path and seing a great storm arise his heart failed him and he began to sink but crying out for help Christ who was onely able to give it stretched forth his hand took him into the Ship and saved him This World we know by experience is a Set of trouble and misery Our Saviour as he did to Peter so he most lovingly willeth every one of us to come unto him but as we walk towards him storms and tempests do arise so that through frailty of our flesh and the weaknesse of our Faith we begin to sink Christ stretcheth forth his hand he giveth us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Word his Sacraments the good motions of his Spirit to save us from sinning to keep us in the Ship of the Church If we refuse these means we perish we sink in our sins And why so Not because Christ doth not most kindly put forth his hand unto us but because in want and distresse we lay not hold upon him It is he that invites all Men to his great Supper but if they make excuses or willfully refuse to come he may justly pronounce None of them that were bidden shall ever tast of my Supper Luk. 14. 24. The giddy uncertain disposition of the Multitude or common People IT is said of the Roes and Hinds that they are most tender and fearful of all beasts affrighted with any noise checked with the least foyl turned out of course with the snapping of a stick presently make head another way and when they are once out of their wonted walk Erranti in via nullus est terminw they run they know not whither even to their own death Such is the natural disposition of the Multitude or Common People soon stirred up quickly awry sometimes running full head one way on a sodain turned as much another easily set a gogg delighted with novelties full of alteration and change one day crying Hosanna the next day Crucifie him Whilest the Viper is upon S. Paul's hand he is a Murtherer but no sooner off in the turning of a hand a God One while the People wept because they had no Temple and when the Temple was built again they wept as fast because the glory of the second was not like the first In the sad time of Q. Mary there was lamentation and crying out That Idolatry was set up the Church polluted and the Gospel taken away Afterwards in the time of that famous Q. Elizabeth when through the great mercy of God the Gospel was advanced and the light thereof did comfortably shine throughout the whole Kingdom then they murmured and cryed out as fast again That we had no Church no Ministery Truth was wrapp'd up in Ceremonies and all was Antichristian so giddy and uncertain nay such is the madnesse of the People Sectarian schismatical Seducers their Company to be avoided AS a Man that travelleth with a great charge of Money in a way where many Robbers haunt Or happens to be in some great Market or Fair where many Cheaters and Cutpurses resort had need look well about him be very wary and circumspect Or in times and places of the Pestilence where many be infected shut up and dye of the Plague had need be very carefull of himself in the provision of Antidotes to comfort and preserve his Spirits and corroborate the vitals So had every sober humble discreet Christian that carrieth in him a pretious immortal invaluable Soul blesse himself out of the Company and carefully avoid all contagious schismatical Seducers who truly are what Tertullus falsly said S. Paul was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pestilent Fellows Act. 24. 5. Sins Lethargy IT is said of those that are fallen into a Lethargy that their bodies are subject to a continual drowzinesse and their Memories so taken off that they do not remember any thing of what either they speak or do nay they forget the very necessary actions of life So deals Sin with the Soul of Man it drawes upon it such a deadly and fearful sleep that it makes Men to forget the most necessary thing the Unum necessarium that which in a special manner concerns them even all the wayes of God all reverent fear and obedience to his Majesty all peace of Conscience all salvation of their Souls all eternal joy and Felicity in a word all consideration of their lamentable estate and condition The glasse of the Law truly shewing Men what they are AS it is with some old foul and wrinkled Dame that is soothed up by her Parasites in an admiration of her beauty to whom no glasse is allowed but the Picturers that flatters with a smooth fair and young Image Let such a one come casually to the view of a true glasse she falls out first with that Miroir and cryes out of the false representation but after when upon stricter examination she finds the fault in her self she becomes as much out of love with her self as ever her flatterers seemed to be enamoured on her It is no otherwise with us we easily run away with the conceit of our spiritual beauty of our innocent Intergrity every things feeds us in our overweening opinion but let the glasse of the Law be brought once and set before us we shall then see the shamefull wrinkles and foul Morphews of our Souls and shall say with the Prophet We lye down in our shame and our confusion covereth us for we have sinned against the Lord our God Ier. 3. ult The great danger of cherishing wicked thoughts AS the stream in the River Iordan doth carry the Fish swimming and playing till on a sodain they fall into the dead Sea where by reason of the brimstone and other bituminous matter wherewith that Sea is infested they presently â—ye So there are many in the world that suffer themselves to be carried away so long with vitious thoughts and wicked imaginations that on a suddain the powers of the Mind be generally tainted and infected It may seem a small matter to lend the Devill an evill thought but it is very dangerous so to do For he dares not tempt any one unto murther treason or any such griâ—â—â—us sin till he hath sent an evill thought before to try whether he shall be welcome Custome in Sin not easily removed IF a Man take in the Spring three or four plants and set them altogether at one time if he come by and by or within a while after he may easily pull up one of